Maito Gai's Wife
by lilkorea
Summary: I've decided to make this a series of short stories. Team Gai and Team Kakashi meet a beautiful woman who is surprisingly Gai's beloved wife. And the trials of their children as they grow up.
1. Chapter 1

Maito Gai's Wife

"And that's match." said Kakashi, as Naruto sat up on the grass, glowering at Neji as he nursed his chin.

Team Kakashi and Team Gai were to spar one another for practice, all it being Gai's idea. Kakashi just agreed only to have spare time to read his latest issue of "Icha Icha Paradise."

"That was a cheap shot! I want a rematch!" Naruto yelled.

"Ah, such spirit to challenge Neji-kun with passion." Gai said, "It brings up the good ol' days when my flames of youth were still ripening."

Gai's and Kakashi's students all sweat-dropped at Gai's creative ways of expressing how impressed he is.

"Quit yappin' like a dang fool, honestly, it's embarrassin' just listenin' to you sometimes." said a feminine voice with a kansai accent. All heads (including Kakashi) turned to see a beautiful woman standing only a few feet where the group was, holding an infant with one arm.

She had wavy black hair, radiant violet eyes with seductive long eyelashes, and a very attractive mole under the corner of her left eye. Her skin had a healthy color as it was lightly tanned, and wore a casual kimono for the cooling weather.

The baby held in her arm had the same black hair, only it defied gravity, similar to Kakashi's hair. His eyes were the same shape as his mother's, only the color was different. And it could barely be seen, but the baby seemed…

"Midori! My darling wife!" Gai said, as the world suddenly stopped rotating. All of them thinking: **_WHAT!_**

Gai pranced up to the beautiful woman, his arms spread out ready to give a warm embrace, his lips puckered up for a kiss when he was abruptly stopped by a hand in his face.

"You're a grown man and yet you still act like a love-sick fool." Midori said as she pushed Gai back a bit, but he took no offense, knowing it was her own way of showing affection. So he gave her his trademark smile.

"Wait a minute! Since when did you get married, sensei!" asked Tenten.

"And how'd you get such a babe for a wife!" asked Naruto, getting an immediate bump on his head from Sakura.

"That's just rude, Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Why haven't you told us you were married, Gai-sensei?" asked Lee.

"Midori-san, how are you and little Susumu?" Kakashi greeted, ignoring the looks from his and Gai's students.

"We're doing just fine, Kakashi-kun." Midori replied.

_And since when did Gai-sensei have a baby? That kid looks nothing like him._ Neji thought.

"Susumu-kun is looking more like his mother each day." said Kakashi, holding one of the baby's tiny hands as the little fingers wrapped around his one gloved finger. Kakashi's one visible eye creasing as the baby responded with a toothless smile.

"Yes, and I'm rather thankful he doesn't have his father's facial features." said Midori.

_So Gai-sensei is the father…that's a little hard to swallow._ Neji thought.

"Gai-sensei, how come you never told us about your wife and son?" asked Tenten.

"And what's more is that you knew about this, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, as Kakashi continued to ignor him by gently waving his finger as the baby reached for it.

"Well, for starters, Tenten-chan, none of you ever asked." said Gai.

"Well, we're asking now, Gai-sensei." said Sakura.

"Then in that case, when we first met, we were young teens and we were instantly head over heels for each other." Gai began until Midori shot him down with saying:

"Actually, I never knew he existed until eight years ago. Even then I thought he was a freak because of his ridiculous eyebrows."

Everyone stood in silence until—

"HAHAHA!"

—until Naruto laughed.

"That may have been the case back then, but these two eventually got married." said Kakashi.

"True." Midori agreed, as Gai wrapped an arm around her shoulders while his free hand patted his son's head.

"And we've never been happier!" he said. "Right, Midori-chan?"

"It's your turn to cook tonight." Midori said in a casual manner as the five students all sweat-dropped.

* * *

Years before Gai became a teacher

A twenty-year-old Gai peeked around a fruit stand, his cheeks holding a pink hew as he saw the object of his affections walking up the street. An eighteen-year-old Midori was talking pleasantly with another girl her age, both oblivious to Gai's presence as they pass by him.

He followed her in stealth, like he had been doing ever since their academy years. He tried to confront Midori many times, but every time he did she wouldn't be listening—or looking at him for that matter! She'd always be preoccupied with something, whether it was talking with her friends, or doing a task.

She always seemed to be single minded, never was she seen multitasking.

But today—today he'd get her attention!

When he looked back, she was gone. He looked up and down the street but didn't see the beautiful girl. Teleporting to a higher place (on top of an apartment building) he scanned the area within his sight.

Still unable to see her, he gave a sigh and was about to turn and head home when he came face to face with Midori herself. She was standing before him, arms crossed and shoulders squared. He practically forgot that she was Konoha's most excellent spy, and so she was a natural in evading other spies with stealth unmatched by any other.

"Why are you following me?" she asked coolly.

Gai's cheeks flushed slightly as he tried to come up with a good excuse—but alas, he's no Kakashi. So he went with the truth.

"I'm sorry if I have given you the wrong impression, Midori-san, but I can never lie to you. In truth, I've been in love with you since our days in the academy. You may have never noticed me, but I've always noticed you."

Gai looked expectantly at Midori who seemed to be staring at him in a dazed state when she finally said:

"You have freakishly bushy eyebrows."

Not exactly the reply he was looking for.

After that, he began to confront Midori more frequently, becoming bolder each time. It took him his fifth confrontation for her to remember him as she'd always say:

"Oh, it's you, the guy with the bushy brows."

It may not be how he'd like fore her to remember him by, but it was a start, and he'd continue to improve what little relationship they had.

Four years later, he was praised with great fortune to be put on the same squad with Midori. The two of them, along with four others were to infiltrate into the Mist village and steal a scroll that held secrets to the downfall of Konoha.

The raid was successful, no one knew of their presence, and it wasn't until they were halfway back from Mist when they were finally caught up by Mist Anbu. Gai's team used the trees to lose their pursuers.

They were ambushed and forced into combat. Three were cut down but more continued to come, and to Gai's horror Midori was seriously injured as she was caught in deadly jutsu—or more like stepped in front of it to prevent it from hitting Gai from behind.

"Midori-san!" he called, as he stabbed a Mist-nin out of his way and ran to Midori's side. He shook her shoulders, getting no response.

"Gai-san! Get Midori-san out of here!" shouted one of his teammates. Gai nodded as he gathered Midori into his arms and ran towards their country.

As he ran, he looked down at Midori, her blood beginning to soak through his jounin uniform.

"Why…?" came a weak response, making Gai stop and look back down at Midori who was weakly look up at him. "Why…risk yourself…for me?"

"Because, I love you with all of my being. I'll protect you with my life." he said, before continuing onwards towards Konoha.

When he reached Konoha with inhuman speed, he didn't stop until he was at the hospital where Midori was rushed to intensive care. After her ten hour operation, Gai stayed by Midori's side, stroking her hand and whispering how much he loved her.

On the second day after being in the hospital, Midori stirred, waking up to a relieved looking Gai.

"Gai, have you been at my side this whole time?" she asked. Tears brimmed at the corners of his eyes after hearing her finally say his name. Taking her hand into his he smiled at her and said:

"You're so reckless."

And for the first time, she smiled at him, squeezing his hand slightly. After another year, they were married—though they made an odd couple, Gai being energetic and spirited while Midori was mellow and calm.

* * *

Present day

Gai walked home with his wife and son, holding Midori's hand as he told her about how well his students had done in today's sparring. And Midori listened, having nothing better to do until they reached their home.

"Their flames of youth have yet to disappoint!" Gai shouted enthusiastically.

"Quit yellin' like a dang fool, you'll wake up our son." Midori said.

"I'm sorry, koibito, you know how I get sometimes." Gai said with a sheepish grin. Midori smiled.

"Your son learned to pull himself up onto his feet today, that's why I showed up in the fields today, so he could show you."

"He has? My, he'll become a splendid ninja someday, and maybe he'll become one of my student's subordinate, too?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, let's just take things slowly."

"Of course."

The End

* * *

AN: How was that? Sweet? Strange? Awkward? I wrote this because I wanted to get it out of my system and I did. 


	2. Chapter 2

More Than a Splendid Ninja

"The baby-sitter has canceled today, I have no choice but to take Susumu with me to work today." Midori plainly said in her kansai accent, bending over her son with a smile. "Would you like to come to work with mommy, today?"

The infant Susumu just stared up at his mother, sucking mindlessly on his pacifier while he allowed his beautiful mother to remove the bib from his neck.

"Midori-chan, my beloved, allow me, your strong and handsome husband to take charge of our son for the day." Gai said in his usual strange manner. Midori just gave him one of her bored, blank looks. Gai only hoped that his wife would allow him to take their son for the day, and introduce him to his students.

"Why not. It would have been too much of a hassle anyways if I brought him to Headquarters with me." Midori said in a bland tone as she wiped a smudge from her son's chubby cheek.

"My dearly beloved wife, how you have made my heart sing with joy for allowing me to take our son to meet my students. They will be so joyful, knowing that such a beautiful woman has allowed them the pleasure of formally meeting our—" Gai was suddenly cut off from his heart filled speech when Midori began handing him essentials for taking care of their son.

"Here's his diaper bag where you'll find diapers, bottles of milk, a change of clothes, story books, toys, snacks in case he gets hungry. And be mindful now, Susumu's now going through a phase where he'd be chewing on anything he can get his hands on, so I've put an extra pacifier in there in case he loses the one he has.

"Here's a planner where I've noted down everything: schedules of when he needs to take his naps, how much he should eat, what temperature his formula should be, what not to feed him, what his favorite games are, and should he get lost there's several locations written down where he'd normally go."

"Midori-chan, is all this necessary?" Gai asked, his shoulders slightly bent over to the left where the diaper bag was weighing him down, while the planner was in his free hand. Midori eyed him for a moment before turning to pick up their son from where he sat on the floor.

"To keep Susumu happy, yes." she said, putting Susumu in her husband's free arm and giving them both a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be home by four and if I find one measly scratch on him, you'll be sleeping on the couch. Bye now."

She gave one of her rare, sweet smiles before leaving through the front doors. Gai just stood in the middle of the living room—the heavy diaper bag weighing him down on one shoulder, the planner in one hand, and Susumu in his arm.

He sighed, knowing he must look ridiculous in his jounin uniform while carrying baby supplies. But he did it out of love for his wife and son, and out of pride of being a loving father and loyal husband.

So, like a man,he bore with it.

* * *

Coming to the training fields where his students were waiting patiently, he greeted them like he usually did, minus the wave of the hand.

His students each greeted their sensei in their normal manner before looking at little Susumu in the jounin's arms. Tenten awed the baby with an adoring smile as she trotted up to him, saying how adorable he was.

"Why have you brought your son, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked, as Gai relieved his shoulder of the heavy diaper bag, setting it on the ground at his feet.

"Does it bother you, Lee-kun, to have a baby on the fields?" Gai asked.

"No, sir!" Lee said immediately, "Just concerned. What would happen if he got in the way?"

"He won't be in the way, I assure you." Gai said.

"I think it'd be exciting to have a baby with us, don't you think so Neji-kun?" Tenten said, looking back at the Hyuuga, who remained silent. "May I hold him, Gai-sensei?"

"Of course, Tenten-chan." Gai said, carefully handing Susumu to his female student's eager arms. Much to his surprise, Susumu didn't put up a fight at all as he was handed to Tenten who was a complete stranger to him.

"Aw…He's just so cute!" Tenten said in a girlish manner.

As they trained, one was to sit out and watch over Susumu so as to not lose or allow getting hurt. Tenten enjoyed watching over Susumu as she played games with him, earning a gurgle of giggles. Lee was fairly good with the baby, as he passed the time bouncing Susumu in his arms. When it was Neji's turn to watch the baby, all he did was sit there, meditating, with Susumu sitting in his lap—rather well behaved.

During their break to eat lunch, Gai had sat Susumu down beside him as he dug through the diaper bag for his son's bottle. And with his students preoccupied with their meals, no one took notice when Susumu crawled away.

"And now, a nutritious meal for my son!" Gai said, turning to look down at his son with the bottle presented in his hand. When he noticed the space beside him was empty, Gai immediately froze, and the bottle slipped out from his fingers.

His students looking up at him with questioning looks.

"Sensei, is anything wrong?" Tenten asked. Gai turned, giving his students a haunted look, which raised a few eyebrows.

Without warning, Gai sprang up to his feet and began running in frantic circles sputtering out words of worry and fear, mostly along the lines of:

"What a terrible father I am for losing my beloved son! Oh he must be frightened without his father there to protect him! My beloved wife will never forgive me for losing our one and only son—the beautiful flame of youth that we had created together!..." And so on so forth as he rambled on and on.

While Gai was disoriented with his worries, Tenten had picked up the little planner book and began flipping through it.

"Gai-sensei, Midori-san had written down all the possible places to find Susumu if he ever ran away." Tenten said, getting her teacher's attention.

"Why, Tenten-chan! That's brilliant! We will go to all of these places and find Susumu! Let's go!" Gai said, before dashing off towards the village, leaving his students behind.

"I've never seen Gai-sensei look so worried before." Lee said, tilting his head slightly to one side.

"C'mon, might as well help out." Neji sighed. "I mean, how hard is it to find a baby?"

* * *

For the next two hours, team Gai search high and low for little Susumu. Checking at all the possible places that were written down by Midori, and other places that weren't written. And still nothing.

The young chuunins watched as their jounin teacher slowly broke down from panic and worry as they continued searching. Until Tenten had a thought.

"Susumu-kun was with us practically all morning, right?" she asked her teammates, who nodded. "So then, he'd be away from his mother whom he's always been with."

"And your point?" Neji asked.

"Maybe he was away from his mother so long that he went to go look for her." Tenten said.

"And where would we find his mother?" Lee asked. Tenten opened her mouth but then closed it as she shrugged her shoulders, unable to answer.

"Well, we have a possible lead, might as well let Gai-sensei know." Neji said. His teammates all nodded and they went off in search of their teacher, who was currently looking under a park bench.

"Sensei, do you know where Midori-san is right now?" Lee asked. Gai looked up at his students.

"Why are you asking that when we're supposed to be finding Susumu?" he asked almost hysterically.

"We figured he'd go to wherever Midori-san is." Tenten said.

"Of course!" Gai said, jumping to his feet. "To jounin headquarters!"

* * *

Midori walked out of the jounin headquarters with Kakashi right behind and found, much to her surprise (which is rare in her case) to see Susumu, sitting patiently on the steps—alone—by himself—without his father.

Susumu turned his head up to see his mother looking down at him, and he grinned, holding his arms up expectantly for her to pick him up, and she did.

"Now isn't this a surprise." she began, cradling her son in her arms, instantly noticing how dirty his hands and knees were. "My little boy, coming all the way to mommy's work by himself, no thanks to your reckless father."

Midori handed Susumu to Kakashi before placing her hands on her hip as she looked back at her husband who was standing nervously before her. His students standing back for their own precaution, in case the situation got ugly

"Now, Midori-chan, I can explain." Gai began pathetically, knowing fully well that his eternal rival will never live it down.

"Oh? You gonna explain why our son was found out here alone? Or you gonna explain why you weren't watching him closely?" Midori said, advancing up to Gai.

"I just turned around for only a moment to get his bottle, and when I looked back, he was gone!" Gai said, visibly sweating under his wife's scrutinizing gaze.

"Is that so?" Midori retorted blandly.

"Midori-san, you don't honestly think that Gai-kun would lose Susumu-kun on purpose do you?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye creasing, showing that he was smiling.

Midori sighed as she walked back to Kakashi to take Susumu, who gladly returned to his mother's arms, and looked back at Gai.

"You're right, Kakashi-kun, I know that he would never let anything bad happen to Susumu, so I'll let it slide, for now." Midori said.

Gai took in a breath of relief as Kakashi put his hands deep in his pockets.

"Hopefully, Gai-kun has learned a valuable lesson today about taking care of his own son?" Kakashi said, as he coolly walked past Gai, whose eye twitched with annoyance.

"Sensei, we'll be leaving now." Tenten said, as she and her teammates walk off. Gai waved goodbye to his students as Midori came up to his side.

"He's not hurt, is he?" Gai asked, looking his son over for any scrapes or bruises.

"No, just a little dirty. Nothing a bath can fix." Midori said, as she began walking in the direction of their home.

"Again, I'm sorry for losing Susumu. I promise, as a shinobi, I will never let that happen again."

"Your son's showing early signs of shinobi skills. He's becoming a splendid ninja, just like you hoped for."

"No, he's more than a splendid ninja, he's our son."

Midori smiled softly up at him, which he returned with one of his trademark grins.

"By the way, you're sleepin' on the couch tonight." Gai froze in mid-step, his right eye twitching as an image of Kakashi giving him a cocky look popped into his head.

* * *

AN: I've been getting requests to write a sequel, so I did, and now I've decided to make a mini-series. Please, review and send in some ideas for the next story. 


	3. Chapter 3

One Week Without Mommy and Daddy

Day One

"Gai, he'll be fine while we're gone." said Midori, as she continued packing hers and Gai's packs. Her _beloved_ husband was too busy bawling over the fact that he and Midori would be going on a mission together for a week—meaning they'd both be leaving Susumu behind.

"Dag-nabit, Gai, we'll only be gone for a week!" Midori said, throwing one of Gai's green suits at his head and succeeded.

"But—" Gai sniffed, pulling his green suit off his head as he hugged his son tighter. "I can't bear the thought of leaving our son here all alone!"

"For the last time, he'll be staying with the Hyuuga's. Ayume-san and I are good friends, and she's agreed to look after Susumu while we're gone." Midori said, while snapping her pack shut.

"And he'll be with one of your students, that quiet Hyuuga boy. Susumu seems to like him well enough."

True, Gai had been taking Susumu with him to the training fields, (while being extra careful in keeping an eye on Susumu) and out of his three students, Susumu seemed to like Neji the most. Which was odd, because the Hyuuga prodigy was much too stoic, and did nothing but ignore the baby—who would always crawl onto his lap, and sit calmly.

"But what happens if he gets lost again?" Gai asked, holding his son closer than necessary, causing Susumu to start pushing away and whine. Midori sighed as she took her son from her over-worried husband and returned to finish packing her husband's pack.

"He won't get lost. Ayume-san has children of her own, so she knows what she's doing. And also, she's not you."

"But he's so young. According to all the baby books, early child experiences are very important. If we're gone, he'll feel the early traumas of neglect!"

Midori just stared awkwardly at her husband before throwing him his pack and picking hers up.

"Oddly enough I'm not at all surprised that you would say something like that." she said as she headed out of their bedroom and into the living room with Gai right behind her. "And before you say anything else about how else early child development is so important with parents always being there, just remember this: we're ninjas, and as important as our son is to us, we still have to do our job for our village."

"You're right." Gai sighed, his shoulders slouching.

"I know."

* * *

Gai and Midori stood in front of the Hyuuga manor entrance with Hyuuga Ayume and Hyuuga Hiashi. Little Susumu held in Ayume's arms while all of his baby supplies were in a bag carried by Hiashi.

"Thank you for taking care of Susumu for us while we're gone." Midori said.

"It's no trouble, it'll be pleasant to have a baby in the house again." said Ayume.

"We'll be back in a week." Midori said, as she leaned forward to kiss her son goodbye. "Be good while we're gone." She looked over her shoulder at her teary-eyed husband. "Gai, say goodbye to your son so we can leave. And quit bawlin' like a fool, honestly now."

"Be brave, my dear boy." Gai sniffed, before giving his son a kiss and walking off towards the village gates with Midori.

"Such an odd couple, they are." said Hiashi.

"Maybe, but they do have a very cute baby, don't you agree?" Ayume asked, turning a fond smile to her husband. Hiashi just turned away and walked into the Hyuuga household. Ayume giggled as she walked in after her husband with Susumu in tow.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water when she spotted her mother preparing a baby bottle. She looked over to the other side of the kitchen to see a baby sitting in a high chair, chewing on a bright green plastic ring.

How curious, she didn't hear about any of the Hyuuga's having a baby.

"M-mother, whose um…whose baby is that?" she asked. Her mother turned around, smiling at her daughter.

"A friend of mine is going to be gone for a week, so she asked me to take care of little Susumu while she and her husband are away." Ayume said, bringing the warm bottle over to Susumu who eagerly took it in his small hands.

"Then, we'll be taking care of a baby all week?" Hinata asked timidly, smiling softly at the baby drinking deeply from his bottle.

"Yes. Isn't he just the cutest?" Ayume said, running her fingers through Susumu's baby soft black hair.

* * *

Day Two

Neji sat outside on the raised floor, facing the garden, meditating deeply. For two whole days, he couldn't walk five whole steps without hearing someone talking about the baby that his aunt was taking care of for his sensei and his wife. And he just suddenly made it his mission to avoid contact with any of the women in the household.

At the moment, everything was quiet, and he was grateful for the peace. Until he felt a sudden weight on his lap.

Opening up his pearly white eyes, he looked down to see Susumu, looking back up at him. How a baby got past his guard was beyond him, but he was certain that it wouldn't happen again.

"Oh no! Where's Susumu-kun!" came one of the women's shrill voices.

"You lost the baby!" came another's voice.

"This is terrible, what will Midori-san say when she finds out we lost her baby!" came Ayume's panicked voice.

Neji sighed. _This is ninth time since he's gotten here._ he thought in distress.

"For as long as you're here, it'll never be quiet." he said, standing up with Susumu in his arms.

Susumu reached up one of his small hands and yanked on Neji's long hair, making the older boy wince.

"Hey, that's not for grabbing!" Neji said, trying to unclasp the infants fingers from his hair. But with the struggling, and the inexperience with children, his hair only got tangled in with Susumu's chubby little fingers.

"Neji-kun, have you seen—" Neji's aunt, Ayume, had come hurrying down the open hall, only to pause as her nephew turned around with a slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. And the baby in his arms, with his little fingers tangled in the chuunin's hair.

Ayume held in a fit of giggles, but did nothing to hide her amused smile as she helped her nephew untangle the baby's fingers from his hair.

"Well, considering that whenever Susumu-kun goes missing, you always seem to find him first." Ayume said, the amusement still glittering in her pearly eyes as she took Susumu in her arms from Neji.

"I don't try to, he just happens to always seek me out." Neji mumbled.

"He must really like you to go through the trouble of finding you." Ayume said.

_I hope that's not the case._ Neji thought.

"How about you take care of Susumu-kun today, and maybe ask your teammates to help you." Ayume said, as she handed Susumu back to Neji.

"But, Aunt Ayume—" Neji began his protest but never managed to finish when his aunt turned away and walked back inside.

Now he was left with a baby and now idea how to take care of it. He was definitely going to need help.

* * *

"Hinata-sama." Neji said, startling his cousin who was just about to head out the door.

"Neji nii-san, wh-what is it th-that you n-need?" she stuttered.

"I need your help taking care of him." Neji said, nodding his head down at Susumu in his arms.

"Oh! Of course!" she said, taking Susumu into her arms. "I was just about to go meet everyone at Ichiraku. You're welcome to come, Neji nii-san."

Neji was tempted to just let Hinata go, taking Susumu with her while he returned to his meditating. But unwittingly, he couldn't let his cousin walk around the village alone with a baby, as strange as that thought was.

So he (regrettably) nodded.

* * *

"Hinata-chan! It's about time you—" Ino paused mid-sentence when she saw little Susumu in her arms. The rookie nine all stared wide-eyed at the Hyuuga heiress and at the baby she was holding.

"H-hi everyone." Hinata said in a shy voice.

"Hinata, since when did you have a baby?" Kiba asked.

"Wh-what! Oh no-no-no! Susumu-kun's not my baby! He's actually—" Hinata tried to explain but was cut off when both Sakura and Tenten came up, taking Susumu out of her arms as they began to cuddle the infant.

"I heard that Gai-sensei and his wife were going to be gone all week, so they left their son with the Hyuuga's." said Tenten, explaining the situation for Hinata.

"That's a relief, for a second I thought that kid was Hinata's and Neji's secret love child." said Ino.

Both Hyuuga's sweat-dropped, but one of them had a twitching eye, showing his annoyance.

"So then, Hinata-chan, are you watching Gai's kid all week?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, well, actually, Neji nii-san asked me to help him take care of Susumu-kun." Hinata said.

Neji felt his cheeks feeling warm as he averted his eyes away from the group. He could tell that all the boys were laughing at him, even without his byakugan activated.

"He's so cute! Kinda hard to believe that this little guy is that weird eyebrow-man's son." said Ino. "I mean, he looks nothing like the eyebrow freak!"

"Yeah, but his wife is very beautiful." said Tenten. Ino looked over at Sakura who nodded her head in agreement.

"Now that everyone's here, let's order some ramen already!" said Naruto.

As everyone ate their bowls, (well, the guys basically ate while the girls all fawned over the baby) the get together was just as it always is. Loud and social. At one point, everyone just looked at the baby whom the girls were feeding bits of ramen to, and had to admit it to themselves—when Susumu had grabbed a handful of noodles and stuffed them into his mouth, it was just too hard to not admit that the baby was nothing but cute.

And Susumu showed just how cute he was when all the bowls were emptied, and the group agreed to call it a night, Susumu held up his arms to Neji, and only Neji. He'd whine when someone else tried to pick him up, and Neji had no choice but to him up (after being nudged by Tenten).

The girls all giggled outwardly as Neji held the now content baby who snuggled his face in his no longer clean shirt, as Susumu's sticky cheeks smudged a bit of the ramen broth on him. But Neji wasn't at all concerned of the giggling girls and the sticky baby, irritated maybe, but not concerned.

He was just concerned of how much his pride had shrunk, knowing fully well that the boys would never let him live this day down.

He just had to keep in mind that the baby was going to be living with the Hyuuga's for five more days.

* * *

Day Three

Team Kurenai was to meet at a local tea house. Their jounin teacher was treating them for a job well done on their last mission. Kurenai, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru (who was lying beside his master) sat comfortably on the tatami mats, waiting for the last member to arrive.

After waiting for ten minutes, Hinata finally showed with Susumu in her arms. She bowed low to them all, giving them her apologies before taking a seat beside her sensei with Susumu on her lap.

"Aw man, why'd you have to bring that kid with you?" Kiba asked, pointing a bored finger at Susumu. While Shino just gave the baby one simple glance and a slight wave of the hand.

"I'm sorry, Kiba-kun, b-but my mother said to look after little Susumu since Neji nii-san had left early this morning." Hinata said in her soft voice.

"Man, that means if anything happens to the kid, we're responsible!" Kiba grumbled.

"I haven't seen little Susumu since he was only a few weeks old." Kurenai said, taking Susumu into her lap. "He's gotten bigger, I remember when this little guy was just born." Kurenai said as she gave Susumu an Eskimo kiss (which is rubbing noses together, it's cute when you do it with little kids).

Kiba thought he was going to be sick, the sight was just too much. Yesterday, he admitted the kid was cute when he held up his arms for Neji to pick him up, but seeing his sensei cooing over the baby was more than he could handle. And in such a short span of time.

"At least you don't go crazy over a baby, right buddy?" Kiba said, looking down at where Akamaru was lying, but found that his dog was yipping at Susumu and playfully licking and snuggling him.

The corner of Kiba's mouth twitched at the cute sight.

"Th-that little traitor of a fur-ball!" he growled. Shino, seeing his only other male teammate growing irritated by the second, just sighed and quietly sipped his tea. After all, he had no problem with the baby there.

* * *

Day Four

Neji couldn't believe that his aunt would dump the baby on him again, saying that he and Susumu had gotten "close," like brothers. How ridiculous. All he knew was that every time his aunt took care of Susumu, the little guy would give his aunt the slip and somehow find _him_ of all people.

And today was no different.

Neji specifically left early before anyone was up, just to avoid getting stuck babysitting. And with all the intention of staying away from the Hyuuga compound until it became late, where the baby would already be sleeping, and out of his way.

And his plan worked, for the most part.

When he came home, later that night, he _brilliant_ plan was spoiled when he saw Susumu sitting in front of the door. Obviously someone had prepared him for bed, but had somehow got out of his room that was provided for him—just to wait for him.

In truth, it was cute. But it was too cute for Neji's liking. Why couldn't the baby like Hinata as much as he liked him? Or better yet, why couldn't the baby be taken care of by some other family the Maito's were on friendly terms with?

Neji slipped off his sandals and laid down his shuriken holster and stood in front of Susumu who looked up at him. And as expected, he held up his arms to Neji, expecting the older boy to pick him up.

Neji had the sudden urge of just walking off to his room, but knew that the baby would just follow. So, sighing in defeat, Neji bent forward and picked up Susumu who gave a content coo, and proceeded upstairs to where the baby's room was set up.

Upon entering the infant's room, there was evidence that, indeed, Susumu had been set down for bed, because the blankets had been ruffled. And that Susumu had left the room on his own, because the door was slid open enough for him to slip through.

Kneeling down, Neji was ready to lay the baby back on the futon, but Susumu had clung onto his shirt. He tried to gently pry the boy off him, but every time he did so, the baby would begin to whine.

Too tired to deal with a stubborn baby, and not wanting to make him cry and wake the entire household, the Hyuuga boy just sighed in defeat again, and stood back up with the baby.

"Just for tonight, you can sleep in my room." Neji said, as he adjusted Susumu's weight in his arms before walking further down the hall to his room.

Setting Susumu on his futon, he walked over to dresser and pulled out a clean night-shirt. After changing, he walked back over to his futon where Susumu was beginning to nod off to sleep.

Lying under the covers, he watched Susumu lull quickly to sleep. Then he too, closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him but quickly opened his eyes again to look back at Susumu who had snuggled up close to his shoulder.

At first, Neji didn't know what to do, after all, he had no idea what to do with a baby. But remembering what Tenten had done when Susumu had fallen asleep one day when Gai-sensei had brought his son, she had cradled him. Taking that example, and hoping that no one would find out, he turned onto his side, and laid an arm around Susumu, cradling him in his sleep.

After waiting a few minutes, Neji then finally closed his eyes again and slept through the night with no complaints.

* * *

Day Five

"Well, if it isn't little Susumu." said Asuma, bending forward to be level with the infant's face.

Today, Kakashi had somehow been appointed to look after Susumu for the day. But he didn't complain, really, since Susumu was such a well behaved child.

"I haven't seen you since the day you came out of your mother." Asuma said, careful to keep his cigarette away from the baby. "Kid's gotten bigger, that's for sure."

"Yeah, hard to believe." Kakashi said, as he watched Susumu reach out and yank on Asuma's goatee, who quickly pulled away and rubbed his chin.

"Yep, he's definitely Midori-san's kid." said Asuma, putting his cigarette back in his mouth. "So where's your team, Kakashi?"

"Oh, they're somewhere. Probably waiting for me to show up in the fields." Kakashi said pleasantly.

"And I bet you're going to be late like usual?"

"Who said anything about being late? I have a responsibility to take care of a friend's baby, so they'll understand why I'm late."

"You and your damn excuses." Asuma said, shaking his head.

"Maybe, but they won't do much about it."

* * *

"WHERE THE HECK IS KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto fumed.

"Maybe he got lost on the path of enlightenment again." Sakura said with dry sarcasm. Sasuke just crossed his arms and shifted to his other foot.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted, walking up to his students with Susumu sitting in his arms.

"YOU—have a baby?" Naruto said, a slight look of confusion on his face. Both Sasuke and Sakura recognized the baby as Susumu.

"Yes, just for today, though. So training today will consist of taking care of little Susumu. Good luck." Kakashi said, handing Susumu over to Sakura before settling himself on a tree branch and whipping out his infamous orange book.

The three students looked down at Susumu, who looked back at all three and yawned.

* * *

Day Six

"He's even cuter when he's asleep." Tenten said softly, smiling at the sleeping baby.

"I'm just glad he's asleep now, after all that chasing around the village we did? I bet anybody would be exhausted." said Lee, feeling more fatigued than he had ever felt before.

"For a baby, he sure can be hard to keep up with." said Chouji, who was lying on the grass.

"But they're always worth it, because no one can resist such a cute little face." said Ino, who was sitting between Tenten and Sakura.

"Oh please, babies are just too troublesome." Shikamaru said, who was sitting beside Chouji in the grass.

"If it weren't for Kiba and Akamaru, we would have never found him in the first place." said Sakura.

"Yeah, yeah, just be grateful that Akamaru likes the little drool-machine." Kiba snorted.

The members of the rookie nine and Team Gai were all brought together today because Susumu had ventured off again through the village. And in a panic, Neji, Tenten, and Lee had all scrambled the rookies to help with the search. And after four hours of searching, they had finally found Susumu sitting in a sandbox on the playground with three other babies.

And now, here they were, sitting under the shades of the trees in the park, taking a breather after finding Susumu.

"Today's event was a little exciting, I've never seen Neji-san look so worried before." said Naruto.

Everyone expected some smart-mouth remark from the Hyuuga prodigy but were surprised to see Neji soundly asleep. Little Susumu snoozing in his arms. The sight was just precious.

Hinata, who was sitting beside Kiba, smiled as she remembered earlier that morning. She had peeked into Neji's room, looking to see if he had seen Susumu, and saw them both, sleeping soundly together.

And Hinata kept that image to herself, thinking it just wasn't the right time to tell anyone of her little secret.

* * *

Day Seven

"Thank you again for taking care of Susumu while we were away." Midori said, while Gai was hugging his son with waterfalls of joy streaming down his face.

"It was no problem. Neji-kun and Hinata-chan had taken very good care of him." Ayume said. Both Neji and Hinata standing at her sides.

"Well, that's good, at least Susumu wasn't lonely." Midori said with a soft smile.

"Let's go home, Midori-chan." Gai said, and Midori nodded as she walked by her husband's side. Susumu looking over his father's shoulder.

"Bye-bye!" Susumu said, waving a chubby hand to Neji. The parents stopped and stared amazed at their son, and then back at the Hyuuga's who were just as amazed. But Neji just smiled softly, as he waved back at Susumu.

* * *

AN: I like to give a thanks to FeatherGirl13 for the idea of this story. Sorry if seems a little rushed but I had a lot going on today. This whole week has been crazy for me because I have a big dance performance to get prepared for. But keep the ideas and suggestions coming! It'll be very helpful for me! 


	4. Chapter 4

One More Addition

"She's what!" Anko said in utter surprise, along with the other jounins sitting around in the lounge of headquarters.

"Congratulations." Kurenai said.

"Sounds like you two have been busy." Asuma said, lighting himself a cigarette.

"How far along is she? Or did you both just find out?" Ibiki asked.

"Midori had just told me the good news today!" Gai said proudly, giving everyone his famous pose.

"Again, stop actin' like a dang fool." Midori said as walked into the lounge with a folder at hand. Her wavy black hair tied back in a loose bun.

"Midori-chan, you shouldn't be working in your condition!" Gai said, immediately jumping to his wife's side.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Midori asked as she walked out of lounge towards the stairs to the upper offices.

"She doesn't look pregnant like she did with Susumu." said Ibiki.

"You know so little about motherhood." Kurenai said, shaking her head.

"Speaking of which, where is Susumu?" Kakashi asked.

Gai sat back down across from Kakashi, and leaned back. "He's with my old students today."

* * *

"Isn't it exciting, Susumu-kun? You're going to be a big brother!" said Tenten, as she and her old teammates sat at a table in the ramen shop, treating the five-year-old Susumu to a bowl.

"I don't know, I've never been a big brother before." Susumu said.

"You'll learn." said Neji, who was sitting next to Susumu.

"Learn? Is it the same as learning how to throw shuriken?" Susumu asked, looking up at Neji, then at Lee and Tenten.

The three young jounins all looked at each other, not knowing how to explain the situation to a child.

"Well…" Lee began, tapping his temple with a finger.

"Being a big brother is more like a responsibility. It's your job to make sure your brother or sister stays out of trouble and be safe." Tenten said.

At times like these, both Neji and Lee were thankful to have a female teammate around.

"Oh, kind of like how mommy and daddy are with me?" Susumu asked.

"Yup." Tenten said with a smile as their orders of ramen were served to them.

"Tenten-sempai, where do babies come from?" Susumu asked, making the three jounins freeze.

_Sometimes this kid is too curious for his own good._ Neji thought, becoming rather uncomfortable as he felt his cheeks begin to get warm. He looked at his teammates who looked equally uncomfortable. _I have a feeling we'll be here awhile.

* * *

_

Gai and Midori were walking out of the jounin headquarters as the day was coming to an end. Gai's old students were waiting outside for them with Susumu who ran up to his mother and hugged her.

"Mommy, I will never be a bad boy." he said.

"What are you talking about?" Midori asked.

"We sort of…you know…told him about the birds and the bees." Tenten said with a nervous smile as Neji and Lee avoided looking at Gai and Midori.

"You mean…you three, gave him the 'talk'?" Gai asked. They nodded. "You've corrupted my son's pure mind?"

"He asked." Neji said, still avoiding eye contact.

"Well, at least we don't have to do it later." Midori said, taking her son's hand and heading towards home. "Thank you for your help you three, it's much appreciated."

All three of them sighed with relief as the Maito family walked home.

"That was too humiliating." Neji said.

"I don't know, it makes me feel a little anxious when I have my own family." Tenten said.

"I agree with Tenten-chan. The idea of giving wisdom to the next generation of youth is exciting." said Lee.

"Be a man, Lee." Neji said as he walked off.

* * *

Seven Months Later

"Mommy, when will the baby be born?" asked the six-year-old Susumu.

"Be patient, only a few more months and then the baby will be here." Midori said, as she walked her son to school.

"But that's too long!" he whined.

"I know, but some things just can't be helped." Midori said, as they stopped and she bent forward to give her son a kiss on the head. "Be good for your sensei today, all right?"

"Yes. mommy!" Susumu said before turning and running up to the school where all the other children were.

* * *

"How's the pregnancy treating you today?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye creasing, showing that he was smiling.

Midori rubbed her swollen belly with a satisfied sigh. "Besides the fact that Gai insists I stay at home and rest and Susumu continuously asking when the baby is coming: it's been going rather well."

"That's good to hear." Kakashi said.

"I'm so jealous that you can have kids and still look great!" said Anko, as she rubbing Midori's stomach. "I'm not saying I've had kids, but every time I picture myself with a kid I can't help but shudder."

"Here's your drink, Midori-san." Kurenai said, walking up to Midori and handing her a cool plastic cup of iced tea.

"So, do you know what gender it'll be?" Kakashi asked.

"It'll be another boy, but Gai is hoping that the doctors are wrong and that the baby is a girl." said Midori.

"Aren't you worried that the baby will look more like Gai this time?" Anko asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Midori asked dryly.

"Well, Susumu was a surprise, we were all sure he'd have more of his father's features." said Kurenai.

"Yeah, I lost so much money on that bet!" said Anko.

"Your support for my distress is comforting." Midori said sarcastically. "Oh!"

"What? What is it?" Anko asked.

Midori smiled as she took Anko's hand and placed it on the top of her stomach, and sure enough, Anko's face lit up with a smile.

"Kid's got quite a kick." she said. Kurenai placed her hand on Midori's stomach to feel the small kicks of life.

"Got his daddy's legs, that's for sure." Midori said.

"Hey Kakashi, come and feel this." Anko said.

"No thanks, I was there when the baby first began kicking. That's enough for me." Kakashi said, whipping out his book and turning to his marked page.

"Women are so predictable, one of them gets pregnant and the rest fuss over the idea." Asuma said as he plopped down beside Kakashi.

"Amen." Kakashi retorted.

* * *

AN: I know it's short, but no ones sending me any ideas, so this is all from the top of my head. Please-please-please send me more ideas to work with!


	5. Chapter 5

The Epidemic Called Chicken Pox

After a week, Gai finally returned home to Konoha with his team after completing a simple, yet dull mission. And now, he was ready to go home and be with his wife and son.

Stepping up to his doorstep, he entered his cozy little house, expecting his beautiful Midori to come and greet him. But as he stepped inside and closed the door, a sterile smell reached his nose.

Taking off his sandals, he walked into the kitchen and saw his six-year-old son sitting on a stool in the center, with only a pair of grey shorts on. He had pink blotches rubbed all over his skin, and little mittens were covering his hands, tied so that he couldn't take them off. And a very uncomfortable and very miserable look was on his face.

"Susumu, what is this on your skin?" Gai asked, reaching up to examine the pink substance on his fingers but was stopped by a dainty hand on his arm.

Looking to his right, he saw Midori looking up at him.

"I wouldn't touch him, dear." she warned, as she walked over to the miserable Susumu with a brown plastic bottle in hand. Her other hand resting at the bottom of her back to relieve some stress due to her swollen belly.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he all covered in pink goo?" Gai asked, watching his wife apply more of the pink substance on their son's back, careful not to accidentally rub any of it on her stomach.

Standing up straight and looking at her husband's face with an "isn't-it-obvious" look, she explained.

"Your son caught the chicken pox from school."

"What! How!" Gai blurted out, his panic meter rising up.

"It's been going around his school lately, and almost everyone has caught it. So class has been canceled for the next week until the children have all cleared up." Midori said, "Gai, you've had the chicken pox when you were younger, right?"

Gai thought for a moment, thinking back to his younger, more adolescent years.

"No, I've always been a healthy boy in my glorious days of youth." Gai said, making Midori sigh.

"Well then you'd better hope not to catch the pox, so as to be sure of that, you'll have to stay away from Susumu until his spots are all gone." she said.

"Of course, koibito." Gai said. "But why have you tied mittens on our son's hands?"

"It's to keep him from scratching." Midori simply answered. "If he scratches, it'll only leave scars."

"But mommy, itchy!" Susumu whined.

"I know, sweetie, but scratching will only make it worse." Midori said, as she took hold of her son's mitten hand and led him to the bathroom. Gai watched with sympathy as his son tried to satisfy an itch on his leg with his mitten hand.

* * *

"Gai-sensei, is there something bothering you?" Lee asked, lowering his fist as they paused in their taijutsu training.

Gai sighed heavily as he put his hands on his hips. "My poor Susumu has become an unfortunate victim of the chicken pox." he said with dramatic tears in his eyes.

"Little Susumu has the chicken pox?" Tenten asked with mild concern. Neji had even pulled out from his meditation and listened in, while trying to convince himself that he could care less about a little plague.

"Yes, my poor son has caught the terrible epidemic from his classmates." Gai said. "So be cautious, you three. If you have not yet had them, you best stay away from Susumu, no matter how much you'd just want to run up to him and give him a big hug!"

"Oh, Sensei! Just thinking about it brings pain to my heart!" Lee said with tears brimming his eyes.

"The chicken pox is nothing life threatening, sensei, it's just a temporary virus that you can only get once in your lifetime." said Tenten. "We'll all be fine if we've already had it, right guys?"

Lee and Neji nodded, both having had caught the virus before their academy years. And Tenten had caught it during the academy years.

"How fortunate, then you can keep my Susumu company during his days staying at home." Gai said, "Now who will do the honors of bringing my son out of his boredom?"

"I will, Gai-sensei!" Lee volunteered.

"As much as I'd like to help out too, I don't think all three of should visit Susumu-kun. Midori-san seems rather reluctant to leave the house long enough to buy medicine for his itching." said Tenten.

"This is true, poor kid hasn't seen daylight in three days." said Neji.

"What a dark time in my son's youthful years." Gai sighed.

"Daddy!" came a call, making the four look over to the far end of the field to see little Susumu running up to them.

"Susumu?" Gai pondered as his son ran up to him with an excited look on his face.

"Daddy, look! All the itchy spots are gone! See?" Susumu said, spinning around with his arms spread out, showing his unblemished, smooth skin.

"What great joy!" Gai cheered, picking his son up and spinning him around above his head. When he stopped spinning Susumu around, he held his son at his side, grinning ear to ear.

"This calls for a celebration!" he said.

"Daddy?" Susumu said, gaining his father's attention. "You have a red dot on your nose."

All three of Gai's students looked up at him, and as Susumu had said, there on his nose was a red dot.

"I had one too, but it was all over." Susumu said.

"Sensei, have you never had the chicken pox?" Tenten asked after Gai had put his son down.

"No, I'm afraid not, Tenten-chan." Gai said, ruffling his son's hair. "I suppose now I'll have to ask Midori-chan to help remedy these spots now. Come Susumu, we'll celebrate your health later."

"But I want to stay here with Neji-sempai." Susumu whined, jutting out his lower lip in a pout.

"All right, as long as it's fine with Neji-sempai." Gai said, looking at the Hyuuga prodigy, who simply closed his eyes as if returning to his meditation, but nodded to confirm it was fine.

"Bye daddy, remember not to scratch!" Susumu said, waving goodbye to his father who walked back home to where his wife was in the kitchen again, applying the medicine on none other than Kakashi.

He was sitting shirtless (though his mask remained) on a stool with little red dots scattered all over his body, and Midori standing behind him, rubbing the same pink medicine on his back.

"Let me guess, you too?" Kakashi asked, seeing the red dots on his 'rivals' face.

"What are you doing here in my home? With my pregnant wife? _Alone?_ Have you no shame?" Gai accused, resisting the urge to scratch his nose. He knew Midori would never turn her back on him, but wasn't so sure of his eternal rival.

"Gai, change out of your clothes, I'll wash them later. Then come back here so I can apply the medicine on you too." Midori said, tilting the brown plastic bottle in her hand before rubbing it onto another spot on Kakashi's back.

Changing quickly, he returned to the kitchen and pulled up a stool next to Kakashi who was covered in pink blotches. His nose in the infamous orange book.

He felt Midori's swollen belly bump his back before he felt the cold substance touch his skin, and felt the refreshing relief as the itching faded away.

"How did you befall with such a fate?" Gai asked with slight bitterness, but held no grudge against his son.

"Naruto caught the pox and had given it to Sakura, Sasuke and me." Kakashi answered dully as he turned a page in his book.

"I see." Gai said.

"And how about you, Gai-kun?" Kakashi asked.

"He got it from Susumu, who just got over the virus today." Midori said.

"And where is little Susumu?" Kakashi asked.

"With Neji-kun." Gai said.

"That boy seems rather attached the Hyuuga, seems like he favors _him_ more than his own father." Kakashi said as if it were a passing topic.

"My son loves me more than any of my students." Gai said confidently.

"If you say so." Kakashi said, shrugging his shoulders.

Gai's eye twitched in slight annoyance as he held his tongue. But silently promised that he'd get Kakashi back.

* * *

AN: Please send in more ideas for me so I can keep writing humorous stories! 


	6. Chapter 6

Rush Delivery

"Bye, mommy!" Susumu said, as he ran to catch up with his classmates outside the academy.

Even though Midori shouldn't be on her feet, she continued on with her daily routine by taking her son to school and then heading to headquarters to file all the spy mission reports.

"You really are pushing yourself, you know." Kakashi said as he appeared by Midori's side. "A woman in your condition should really be—"

"I don't want to hear it." Midori cut in, turning around to face Kakashi, he slightly moved back to avoid being knocked over by her very pregnant belly. "You, Gai, and everybody else has been telling me to get bed rest, but how can I rest when there's still so much to do before the baby arrives?"

"Good question." Kakashi said, not wanting to be the cause of a pregnant woman's rampage. "Why don't I walk you to headquarters?" he offered.

"How generous of you, taking pity on a pregnant woman, thinking she can't handle a little walk." Midori said with a bit of a clipped tone.

"No, no, I was just heading there myself." Kakashi said, waving his hand in front of him to show it was a harmless gesture.

"Fine."

Kakashi sighed, glad that Midori didn't start yelling like the other week. And though he didn't understand the anatomy of pregnancy, he did know that when Midori was pregnant with Susumu, she was very pleasant.

"Hurry up, Gai doesn't know that I'm out of the house and I need someone with me just in case he finds out." Midori said.

* * *

Gai burst into the jounin headquarters, frantically shouting out Midori's name as he looked into every room. He rushed past Anko and Kurenai who were just about to enter the department where Midori's office was at.

Opening the door, he almost pulled it off its hinges, but luckily it didn't as he breezed past many of the jounins and entered Midori's office and gave a relieved breath of air at the sight of an annoyed wife.

"Midori-chan, you know you shouldn't be—" Gai began to scold, but was elbowed out of the way by Anko as she and Kurenai walked into the neat and organized office.

"We brought you some cold water, Midori-san." Kurenai said, handing Midori the paper cup.

"Gai, why are you here?" Midori asked after taking a sip of the water.

"Because, you weren't at home and I was worried that something might have happened to you." Gai said.

Midori said with much agitation as she rubbed her temples. "Again, Gai, I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you like this but I have that still needs to be—"

"You worry way too much, Gai-kun. Midori-san knows when to take it easy." Anko said.

"I can't help it if I'm worried for my beloved wife." Gai said, walking around to stand behind his wife as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Especially in her condition, I worry even more. What if she was out in the streets and suddenly she needed to go to the hospital?"

"Gai, honey," Midori said, putting a hand on her husband's hand. Gai knelt down beside his wife, expecting to get her something. "I need you to take me to the hospital."

"What was that?" Gai asked, leaning closer to his wife.

"I need you to take me to the hospital." Midori repeated.

"Oh, is that all?" Gai said pleasantly, before it hit him like a ton of bricks. "WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" he screamed.

As Gai hurriedly picked Midori up bridal style, screaming at the top of his lungs for everyone to make way, Midori gave a folder to a jounin they passed and gave instructions over Gai's shoulder on what to do with it.

Kurenai and Anko were right behind the expectant couple as Midori looked over Gai's shoulder again.

"Can one of you please pick up Susumu from school today and bring him to the hospital?" she asked.

"I'll get him." Anko said, taking off towards the school.

"I'll let the others know about the news." said Kurenai, as she took off in the other direction.

Gai rushed towards the hospital and frantically yelled for help, almost missing what Midori was saying as she had to push out of her husband's arms and calmly walked up to the receptionist.

* * *

School had let out for the day, and Susumu was out front with a few classmates of his, as they all waited for their parents to come pick them up.

"It's almost summer time, what're you gonna do over vacation?" asked a six-year-old boy with sandy blonde hair named Tamaki, who was Susumu's best friend.

"I guess I'll be learning how to be a big brother." Susumu said.

"Why?" Tamaki asked.

"My mommy will be having another baby, and she says that will make me a big brother, and that means I'll have more responsibilities." Susumu said in a tone that would rival his mother's.

"Being a big brother isn't that hard. I have two little brothers and baby sister." Tamaki said.

"But I thought you had a big brother and sister, too?" Susumu said.

"I do, but when they're on a mission I have to take care of my brothers and sister."

"Hey there, kiddo!" Anko said as she touched down in front of the two boys.

"Anko oba-san, what are you doing here?" Susumu asked.

"You're mommy is in the hospital having the baby, so I came here to pick you up and take you there." Anko said.

"Bye, Tamaki-kun." Susumu said, waving goodbye to his friend.

"Bye, Susumu-kun." Tamaki said back as Susumu was picked up by Anko and they disappeared.

* * *

Gai was holding Midori's hand as his wife labored to give birth to their second child. And even though Midori was in great pain, Gai could probably compare the pain in his hand as he felt the second bone pop.

And then a baby's crying filled the room as the medic held up girl and handed her to a nurse who wrapped the baby in a blanket.

Gai was so happy, he was just ready to cry. "She's so beautiful!"

"All right, let's get ready for the second baby." said the medic. Both parents snapped their heads towards the medic.

"What?" they both said together.

* * *

In the hospital waiting room, the jounin teachers of the rookie nine and team Gai and Susumu were waiting for the new addition to the Maito family.

"Neji-sempai, how much longer is it gonna take?" Susumu asked. Neji only shrugged since he and his teammates had arrived five minutes ago.

Susumu didn't ask again, after all, he was a bright child and knew it'd get on everyone's nerves if kept asking, so he sat quietly next to Kurenai and waited. But deep down, what he really wanted to do was run into the room where his parents were in and hold his mother's hand.

Much like the times when he had to go in for his yearly vaccinations, and he held his mother's hand when the medic gave him his shots. The shots didn't hurt, mind you, but the needles just made him uneasy.

* * *

After an hour, Susumu had fallen asleep with his head on Kurenai's lap, and when he finally woke up, he was in his father's arms. He was being carried down a white hall. Lifting his head up, Susumu rubbed his eyes and looked up at his father.

"Where are we going?" he asked groggily.

"We're going to go see mommy and your new baby brother and sister." Gai said. Susumu gave his father a quizzical look as they entered a room full of flowers and gift baskets.

On the bed sat his beautiful mother, holding two bundles in her arms as Gai set him down beside the bed. Climbing onto the bed, Susumu crawled up until he could see both of the babies' faces.

"Susumu, these are your siblings." Midori said, "Your sister's name is Kisa, and your brother's name is Enishi."

"Today, my son, you are a big brother." Gai said, as he covered his eyes with the back of his arm and cried, "I'm so proud!"

Susumu learned a long time ago to ignore his father during his emotional moments and looked down at the two babies each. He remembered seeing photos of when he was a baby, and they looked just like he did.

"They look like me when I was a baby." he said.

"That's right." Midori said fondly as she thought, _and thank goodness, too. Those fuzzy eyebrows on babies?_

Susumu saw as his brother and sister both opened their eyes and saw him first. He reach out a hand to each of them and watched as they each wrapped their little fingers around his.

Smiling, Susumu never felt such an emotion of wanting to protect something feel so strong until that very moment.

"Hi, Kisa-chan. Hi, Enishi-kun. I'm your big brother, Susumu."

* * *

AN: Sorry it took a while to update, but I've been having major writer's block so all I can say is that I hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep giving me more ideas.


	7. Chapter 7

Big Brother

Susumu stood between the two cribs, looking back and forth at his sleeping brother and sister. Only moments ago they were crying like tomorrow would never come, and after a diaper change and being fed by his mother, they were sleeping soundly.

He was amazed that his mother knew exactly what to do with them to make them stop crying, and he wanted to know how. That's why he was in the babies' room, he was observing them and taking note on how they would cry whenever they'd want something.

It had only been two weeks since the twins were brought home with them, and just after two days Susumu already wanted to return them to the hospital. In the beginning, he was excited to be a big brother, and already loved his siblings. But after one night of listening to them crying, Susumu wasn't so sure he wanted to be a big brother anymore.

The last weeks of school went by slowly for Susumu as he was on the brink of sleep during his classes. And once, his friend Tamaki had to nudge him slightly from dozing off in class. Susumu was lucky that the teacher didn't see.

During their lunch break on day, Susumu just had to ask:

"How do you do it, Tamaki-kun? How can you stand with all the crying?"

"I guess I just got used to it, is all." Tamaki said, "but trust me, it'll get better. You'll see!"

Better, huh? How was any of this going to get better? His parents barely had enough time for him now because of the twins needing constant attention. And whenever they did give him their attention, one of the twins would start crying again.

Susumu heard a slight whining and looked down at his sister. Her little nose was scrunched up and her tiny hands were balled up as her feet began to kick underneath her pink blanket.

He reached in through the bars of the crib and stroked Kisa's soft dark hair. And then he noticed her pacifier had fallen out of her mouth and was lying beside her head. Picking it up, he gently put it back in her mouth, and Kisa immediately calmed down again after a few sucks on her pacifier.

Smiling at his small accomplishment for helping his sister like a big brother he pulled his arm back from the crib and turned around to check on his brother, Enishi. And to his surprise, his brother was awake and blinking up at him with the same black eyes that he had.

Reaching in through the bars of the crib, he watched fondly as his brother grabbed onto his fingers with his tiny little hand. Smiling, Susumu watched as his brother yawned, making his pacifier fall out.

Susumu reached in between the bars with his other arm and picked up the pacifier and put it back in his brother's mouth. Again, he felt a small sense of accomplishment for helping his siblings.

Pulling back, Susumu walked out of the twin's room and down the hall towards the stairs and descended into the living room where he saw his father resting on the couch. The dark bags under his father's eyes were very noticeable, even from where he was standing.

He walked into the kitchen where his mother was preparing lunch on the little island counter. Susumu took a seat on one of the stools across from his mother and watched as she skillfully chopped the vegetables. His eyes wandered to the side, seeing two baby bottles full of milk and just vaguely remembered seeing his mother buying them when they went to the super market together months before the twins were born.

He looked back up at his mother, her beautiful face showing no signs of fatigue, especially no dark bags under her eyes. But in her violet eyes, Susumu could clearly see how tired she really was but had always kept her appearance.

"Is there something you want Susumu-kun?" Midori asked as she took the freshly cut vegetables and dumped them into a pot.

"Mommy, am I being a good big brother?" Susumu asked.

Midori turned around with smile. "Of course you are, what would bring up such a question?"

"Nothing, just asking." Susumu said. He heard a slight whimper coming from upstairs and with a heavy heart he knew immediately who was making the noise.

"Sounds like the twins are awake again." Midori sighed. "Susumu-kun, would you please check on them? I'll be up in a minute."

"Yes, mommy." Susumu said, as he hopped off his seat and hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Walking up the hall and into the twin's nursery, and found that both were awake and crying.

He hated it when they cried, it broke his heart because he didn't know what they wanted. But most of all, their crying was breaking his ears. Walking up to the cribs Susumu peeked through the bars at his siblings. They didn't stop crying, but he knew they would eventually once his mother did whatever she did to make them stop.

Stretching his arms, he reached into both cribs, and held their tiny hands, and listened as their crying subsided. For a moment, he thought he had gone deaf, but upon seeing their faces, he knew instantly that they had just stopped crying.

"See, you are a good big brother." Susumu looked up to his mother standing at the door with a tired smile on her face.

* * *

Five Years Later

Susumu sat in class, leaning forward against his desk with his arms folded over the smooth top. His attention wavering between the front of the class to the doodle on his notes he was supposed to be taking.

Tamaki sitting right next to him, his head resting on his arms over the desk, lightly snoring through today's lecture on chakra control. And though Susumu wished he to could just nap through class, he couldn't, because his goal was to become a successful spy, like his mother.

And being successful in class was just one step closer to his goal. He wanted to make his parents proud, and be a hero in his sibling's eyes. In fact, he wanted to be the only hero in little Kisa and Enishi's eyes.

When class was dismissed for a ten minute recess, Susumu poked Tamaki's side, waking the sandy haired boy.

"What did I miss?" he asked sleepily, stretching his arms and yawned.

"The whole lecture." Susumu plainly said.

"Big deal." Tamaki said, leaning back in his seat and balanced on the back legs of his chair. "It's not like Iruka-sensei notices anyways."

"It's more like he's given up caring about the slackers." Susumu said in a blunt tone, much like his mother.

"That's true." Tamaki said with mirth as one of the girls came up to Susumu with a blush on her cheeks.

"Um, Susumu-kun, are you doing anything after school today?" the girl asked as her fingers nervously fiddled with the hem of her sleeve.

"Yeah, I am actually, I have to take care of my brother and sister today. Maybe some other time." Susumu said, politely brushing the girl off.

"Oh, okay, maybe next time then?" she said, before leaving to walk back to her friends as they all giggled.

"Man, you always saying you have to take care of your brother and sister, when are you _ever_ gonna have a life?" Tamaki said. "I mean, c'mon, all the girls like you and they're always saying how polite you are and how good you are in all the ninja skills. You need to make time for yourself and have a life that doesn't revolve around the twins."

"If I don't take care of them, then who will?" Susumu asked coolly.

"I don't know, a babysitter?"

"Kisa and Enishi aren't very flexible when it comes to strangers watching over them."

"Then how about the Hyuuga's? You said they took care of you when you were little."

"But that was because it was only me, and both my parents were gone."

"Then why can't your parents watch over their own kids?"

"Because they're both busy with work."

"Your life sucks, you're always too busy even for me, your best friend."

"I'm sorry, but it can't be helped that I'm more responsible, unlike someone I could mention."

"Hey!"

Once school was out for the day, Susumu walked home to see Enishi and Kisa playing outside their front yard, kicking a ball to each other.

"Nii-san, catch!" Enishi said, kicking the ball to Susumu who caught the ball in his hands with no effort.

"Aww…nii-san, you weren't supposed to catch the ball!" complained Kisa.

"I'm sorry, Kisa-chan." Susumu said, patting his sister's head. "How was your day?"

"Daddy came back today!" Kisa said.

"Yeah, and mommy made cookies too!" Enishi said, pulling on Susumu's arm towards the house. "Mommy said we weren't allowed to have any until you came home, so c'mon so we can eat them!"

Entering the house, or more like being dragged by two eager cookie monsters, the sweet smell of vanilla wafted throughout the house. Susumu was then dragged directly to the kitchen where a plate of cookies were sitting upon the counter.

Susumu had to hold his brother and sister back from devouring the cookies, as much as he'd like to eat them himself. But a good ninja always knows how to stay in control.

"Why are you kids just standing here?" Gai asked, standing behind his three children.

"Where's ma?" Susumu asked, looking up at his tall father.

"Out back, hanging the clean laundry. What are you three up to?" Gai said, looking down at his children with a suspicious eye.

"Daddy, can we have the cookies mommy made now?" Enishi asked with puppy-dog eyes.

"Well…" Gai scratched his chin I thought, looking at the perfectly baked, soft and chewy vanilla cookies with almond bits.

"Mommy said we could have some when Nii-san came home from school." Kisa said with the same puppy-dog eyes.

"As long as your mother said it was all right, then I see no harm." Gai said. Instantly Enishi and Kisa sat on the stools at the counter-top island each taking a cookie with big delightful smiles on their faces.

Susumu heard his father chuckle as he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. Susumu too a seat beside his little sister and grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite, savoring the rich taste.

A glass of milk was set down before him by his father, and two more followed and set in front of the twins. After the third cookie, their glass of milk became low to the point where dunking the cookie was impossible.

And being the clever boy he is, Susumu came up with a solution of pouring his and Enishi's remaining milk into Kisa's glass. And the milk problem was solved as the twins praised their big brother for being so smart.

Gai watched his children fondly as they all shared one glass. It would forever be a wonderful memory.

* * *

Susumu practiced his shuriken throwing behind a few trees nearby the playground, where his brother and sister were playing with the other children. His thoughts were chaotic lately, always revolving around on how to become a better big brother, a better son, the best in his graduating class.

He achieved earning the title 'Rookie of the Year' and his hitai-ate was tied snugly on his forehead. He was given praise from his parents for graduating at the top of his class, and his siblings had never been more impressed.

But lately, he's hardly had the time to see his siblings, and was missing out on everything.

Damn. He missed his target.

He wondered if missing out on family events was just a part of sacrificing himself just so he could be a ninja. He was trying his hardest to always be home long enough to spend more time with the twins, so he knew that they would be safe.

He missed again.

It was tearing him apart, little by little, knowing that every time he was off with his teammates, he was missing out watching the twins grow a little more everyday.

He missed again.

Throwing his arms up in frustration, he bent forward and began to pick up his shuriken. Looking over at the playground, he saw Enishi standing up to a bunch of kids from his graduating class. He could barely see Kisa standing behind him, her face wet with tears.

Forgetting his weapons, Susumu dashed out from the brush and hurried over to his brother and sister. His big brother instincts kicking in. But before he was close enough to do anything, Enishi had kicked the older boy in the stomach, using a move he had watched Susumu do many times.

Slowing down to a stop, Susumu watched, amazed as his little brother, who wasn't even six yet, beat up a boy twice his age and size. And as happy and proud that he was for his brother, a part of him tore a little more.

"Nii-san!" Kisa cried as her face lit up at the sight of Susumu.

"Oh crap! It's Susumu! Let's get out of here!" said one of the boys and they all ran away with their tales between their legs.

Susumu didn't move, he remained where he stood, gazing at Enishi with a look of being lost.

"Nii-san! Did you see? Did you see what I did?" Enishi asked, a sense of pride glittering in his eyes.

"Yeah, I saw." Susumu said, as a smile came to his face slowly. He reached out slowly and placed it on his brother's head who grinned up at him. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm all right." Enishi said, but Susumu knew better.

"Your kick, you did it wrong." Susumu, kneeling down to examine his brother's leg.

"Nuh-uh!" he protested.

"Yuh-huh." Susumu countered, "You twisted your ankle doing it." He pivoted on his feet so his back was to Enishi. "Get on, I'll carry you home so ma can have a look at your ankle."

"But—"

"Don't argue, Enishi! Nii-san knows what to do." Kisa scolded. Enishi puffed his cheeks but got on Susumu's back regardless.

And as Susumu took his siblings home, he began to realize that, like him, they would grow up and become ninjas too. And soon they won't need him anymore, like today. It hurt a little, knowing that he would no longer be needed as much, but he supposed that was just how it was supposed be as a big brother.

* * *

AN: How was it? Sweet? Good? Please review and submit an idea for a new chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

A Little Hardship

Susumu and his team ran through the Forest of Death, expertly evading every trap that was sprung in their wake. He and his teammates had fought their share of enemy ninjas as they neared the end of the first day.

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe little Susumu's taking his first chuunin exams." Tenten said.

"It is hard to believe." Neji said.

"I heard from one of the proctors that Susumu-kun had never once looked up from his paper. It was as if he knew the answers to every question. And when he relayed the answers to his teammates, they never caught him." Lee said, "If he ever becomes a spy, he'll most certainly surpass all the others."

"That is impressive. I just hope he goes easy on my genins." Tenten said.

"Hey, don't forget, some of our genins are in that exam, too." Kiba said, as he and Naruto walked up to the three.

"I have faith in my kids, they're all gonna pass this exam!" Naruto said with confidence.

"Yeah, but Shikamaru's genins consist of Fuji Tamaki, Harada Eiji, and Gai's kid, Maito Susumu." Tenten said.

"Hey yeah, I heard Susumu-kun's pretty popular with the girls." Kiba said with a wolfish grin.

"Heh, he's a little _too_ popular." Neji said, a smirk crossing his face. "The day before the exam he practically begged me to hide him until the exams started."

* * *

A small camp was set up in a small clearing where Team Shikamaru were preparing for a long fortnight.

"All right, we've basically used up the first day to secure provisions." Susumu said, as his two teammates listened. "And judging by the amount of light we have left, we probably only have two hours before its night."

"So what's the plan?" asked Eiji, a boy with wavy brown hair and a constant smile on his face, like a mask to hide what he was thinking.

"We'll scout the area and meet back here in one hour." Susumu said, throwing down a kunai to mark the spot. His teammates both nodded and they were off.

* * *

Gai sat at the kitchen counter, looking like a total mess as he worried over his son's success in making it through the exam. He didn't know how far he had gotten in the forest yet, he didn't know if he was attacked by an enemy, whether if he was all right or not, or even alive!

"Kaa-san, what's wrong with tou-san?" Kisa asked, pulling on the hem of Midori's apron as she was preparing dinner.

"Geez, Kisa, tou-san's worried about nii-san because he's taking the chuunin exams." Enishi said.

Kisa stuck her tongue out at her twin. "No one asked you!"

Midori shook her head at her children's cute little antics as she walked over to her distressed husband and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"My poor mushroom-headed husband, don't worry so much about our genius son. He and his teammates will be just fine." Midori said.

"But what if—" Gai's worries were silenced when Midori pecked him on the lips, instantly calming him down.

"Don't worry. It's like you said, his youthful flames are stronger than anyone else's."

"You're right!" Gai said, standing up proudly with his chest puffed out. "I shouldn't wallow with worry, I should be cheering with great intensity of burning flames!"

* * *

Susumu sneezed in the middle of his scouting, looking up at the canopy while rubbing his nose. _That was unexpected._ he thought.

"AH! It's Susumu-kun!" came a squeally female's voice. Susumu turned around to see Team Ino (that only consisted of girls) jumping out from the bushes and running up to him. Upon instinct, Susumu jumped into the trees and made a mad dash for safety.

"Oh poo! He got away!" said Maru.

"But he's still really cool, did you see how fast he is?" asked Aki.

"And he's so dreamy." said Nami.

The three of them sighed with dreamy looks on their faces.

Returning to the sight where he threw down the kunai, Susumu met up with his waiting teammates who looked at him strangely.

"Why so out of breath, Susumu?" Tamaki asked.

Susumu looked over his shoulder, looking for the three girls, hoping they didn't follow. "I ran into _them_." he said.

"'Them'?" Eiji asked, tilting his head to one side.

"What? You ran into girls? What team are they from?" Tamaki asked excitedly.

"It was Team Ino." Susumu said, leaning back against a tree and slumping to the ground in relief that he got away.

"Ah, darn! I wish I was the one that ran into them." Tamaki said, throwing himself at Susumu and clutching his teammate's shirt with comical tears running down his face. "You're so lucky, Susumu! All the girls like you because you're always so cool, smart, and the best at everything!"

"G-Get off, Tamaki! You're acting like a fool!" Susumu said, struggling to pry his teammate off of him. "Eiji! A little help!"

Eiji just stood by, calmly sipping from his canteen as his ever lasting smile stayed in place. "But it's so much funnier watching you struggle for once." Eiji said with a little titter in his voice.

"You're so cruel, Eiji!" Susumu cried.

* * *

Two kunais clashed in mid-air as Team Shikamaru fought off an enemy team near the tower. Susumu back-flipped onto the enemy-nin's shoulders that had the scroll his team needed and then flipped up onto a low branch. With a tug of the trap-wires the heaven scroll slipped out of the nin's pocket and into his hand.

Whistling to his two teammates who were distracting the other nins, they were gone. Heading straight for the tower in the center of the forest.

"Brilliant plan to get the heaven scroll, Susumu!" Tamaki said.

"Yeah, it was a lot easier than I thought." Eiji said.

"Thanks, guys. Now let's hurry, we only have four hours until the second exam is—" Susumu trailed off as he suddenly cringed in pain, clutching the right side of his ribs. Not able to see where he is going, he missed the next branch and was plummeting to the forest floor.

"Susumu!" both Eiji and Tamaki said together as they pushed off from their branches to catch their falling friend.

They landed on the ground and carefully laid their injured teammate down.

"Susumu, you okay?" Tamaki asked as Eiji noticed the stain of blood and began to quickly pull out the first-aid.

"I guess our top rookie has been injured from that Mist-nin." Eiji said as he cleaned the wound on the Susumu's ribs with a medicinal serum that his older sister gave him before the exam.

"Oh man! And we're so close to the end, too!" Tamaki said.

"Relax, Tamaki-kun, it's just a cut." Susumu said, as if this whole matter were nothing, just like how his mother would dismiss things and take it in graceful strife.

"This cut's pretty deep," Eiji said, wrapping Susumu's ribs up with a bandage. "You'll have to take it easy from here on out."

* * *

"Well, glad to see you three survived the forest." Shikamaru said to his three students. "I told you it was gonna be a total drag."

"Sensei, what's the deal with having a preliminary round?" Tamaki asked.

"It's too troublesome for me to explain, I'll let Eiji-kun do it for me." Shikamaru said.

"Because of the turnout with so many genins actually making it through the forest, a preliminary round is necessary to narrow down the contest by eliminating all of the weak contenders so that only the best are left for the finals." Eiji said.

Shikamaru smirked, proud that his students had made it so far for their individual skills. Mainly for how their skills compliment each other, and that's why he chose these three, it was only lucky for him that they were friends beforehand.

Susumu made a slight whine as he rubbed his wound under his arm, trying to hide it, though his deception wasn't as convincing to have his teacher overlook.

"Susumu-kun, you're hurt." Shikamaru mainly stated, reaching out to pull Susumu's shirt up to examine the wound but the boy flinched away.

"I'll be fine, it's nothing I swear!" Susumu insisted stubbornly.

"If you say so." Shikamaru sighed, mumbling how troublesome kids are.

The matches went by, and round by round a winner was decided upon the fights. And the pain in Susumu's ribs was growing worse by the hour, up to where it came to be his turn to fight.

"We'll be rooting for you, Susumu-kun!" Tamaki hollered, as Susumu jumped over the railing down to the floor, still clutching his rib to slightly ease the pain.

"Yes! I've been waiting for the day when I'd get to fight you!" said Kaito Jin, a former classmate of Susumu's who has found rivalry with him…and he couldn't imagine why.

Susumu's right eye twitched in annoyance. _Of all the genins, it just had to be him…he's so…**annoying.**_ he thought, "Hi Jin."

"Ready?" Anko asked, raising her hand in the air, "Begin!"

Knowing Jin's favorite strategy, Susumu remained where he stood as Jin jumped around like he had springs on his feet. Of course, he himself had to make a move pretty soon, or else he'll look pretty stupid just standing in one place.

"Found you." Susumu said, snapping his wrist to send three shurikens at Jin, stopping the acrobatic boy. "Get ready." In an instant, both boys were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and Susumu noted that Jin had gotten better.

"Woo! Go, Jin-kun, the spring time of youth is upon you!" Jin's sensei cheered, Rock Lee.

"Go, Susumu-kun!" the Konoha genin girls cheered. "You're the coolest!"

_Gai-sensei, your son is praised as a natural genius. And watching him fight my own student, I can easily see the high level of discipline he has gone through. And knowing you, sensei, you must have taught him the lotus._ Lee thought.

Susumu kicked Jin into the air from beneath and pushed off to hover above him, twisting around, and using both his right hand and foot to bring on more force behind his attack as the concrete floor cracked under Jin's body. Susumu jerked in pain, clutching his rib. Looking down to peel his hand back he saw blood staining his finger.

"The winner of the match: Susumu!" Anko announced as two medic-nins came out and hauled Jin away as Eiji and Tamaki had jumped down and ran to their victorious teammate.

"You over did yourself, Susumu-kun. Your wound reopened." Eiji said.

"Hey, you guys know what this means?" Tamaki asked, getting curious looks from his friends. "It means all three of us get to fight in the finals!"

"Makes sense, since Susumu's was the last." Eiji said.

"Can we go home now?" Susumu asked, wanting nothing more than to go home, wash up, and sleep in his warm awaiting bed.

After receiving the objective of what to do while waiting for the finals, and getting treatment from the midic-nins, Team Shikamaru were headed home.

Susumu stood outside the picket fence door, looking up at the home he's been missing for a week. Unlatching the basic fence lock, he pushed the wooden gate open and stepped into the front yard. He walked up to the front door and reached into his hip pouch for the house key, and unlocked the door.

A welcoming smell greeted his nose…mother must have made lunch already. Walking into the kitchen, he was expecting to see his mother at the stove with her frilly pink apron. All he found was an empty kitchen and a lay out of prepared food on the island counter with a note.

_Susumu-kun,_

_I have lunch prepared for you, eat when you're hungry. Enishi and Kisa's school are having a small festival tonight, we'll go over together with your father. Rest up and get cleaned, I'll be home after work._

_love,_

_kaa-chan_

Susumu put the note down, understanding that it was a weekday, meaning his parents both worked, and his siblings were in school. Sighing to himself, he sat on a stool and unwrapped the food his mother had left out for him, and began to eat.

The food was still hot, almost as if they were just made, making it all the better knowing that his mother was the best cook. Everything tasted even more delicious, having nothing to eat but dry rations and water for a week…it made him appreciate what he had a bit more.

After he finished eating and placing the dirty dishes in the sink, Susumu trudged upstairs to the bathroom he shared with his twin siblings, and closed the door to shower off the grime and sweat that had built up over the week. Once clean and dry, he reached into the medicine cabinet and began to apply ointment on his cut and put a large band-aid over it.

Once finished with that, Susumu walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and his dirty, torn up, ruined clothes in his arms. Walking into his room, he dumped his dirty clothes on the floor and changed into a clean pair of clothes that had been laid out on his bed…More than likely by his mother…and once finished, collapsed onto his soft mattress and fell asleep.

He vaguely recalled feeling a warm kiss on his left temple and the covers pulled up to his ear, and then a gentle hand ruffling his hair.

Susumu awoke just four hours after returning home to see the lamp-lit street of Konoha moving steadily by. At first, he thought he was dreaming, but after blinking the sleep from his eyes he lifted his head up to notice that he was being carried on his father's back. His mother walking right next to them, her wavy raven hair was pinned up elegantly.

"Kaa-chan…tou-chan…konbanwa. What's going on?" Susumu asked in a groggy manner. His mother looked up at him and smiled as she raised a hand brushed his hair away from his eyes.

"Konbanwa, Susumu-kun." Midori greeted.

"Ah, Konbanwa, Susumu-kun. My old student has told us all about your performance in the preliminaries. He says your flames of youth could not be extinguished by witty banters and intimidating opponents! I'm so proud!" Gai said with tears of fatherly pride streamed down his face.

"Where are we going?" Susumu asked.

"To the school festival, Enishi and Kisa are already there with their class." Midori said. "Enishi and Kisa missed their big brother during the week. They told me that they couldn't wait to show you what their class is doing."

* * *

"Nii-san!" was what Susumu heard after coming into sight of the school's track before falling backwards.

"Nii-san, you came!" Kisa said.

"Come see what our class is doing!" Enishi said as he and his twin yanked up their big brother and literally dragged him into the classroom with their parents behind them.

The room was decorated to look like shinobi game room with lined up targets with people gathering to watch the players aim for the bull's eye.

Enishi and Kisa both dragged Susumu to the archery stand and practically shoved a bow into his hands. And then bragging to their classmate's that he was the best.

"Go on, m'boy! Show off your flames of youth in front of all of these spectators!" Gai encouraged.

Susumu sighed. All he wanted to do was spend time with his family he hadn't seen for a week, and maybe share a plate of dangos with his siblings. Aiming, he released the arrow and watched with no surprise when it hit the dead center of the target and earned cheers and clapping (the loudest being Gai).

"Nii-san, you're so cool!" Kisa praised.

Susumu smiled as he set the bow down and patted his sister's head and allowed the twins to drag him around to all of the booths the other classes had come up with. By the end of the evening, the Maito family left together and went out for soba.

And Susumu got his wish, sharing a plate of dangos with his siblings.

A little hardship was well worth it for this.

* * *

AN: It's been a few months, but I've finally updated. Hope you guys all enjoyed. And please, give me some ideas for more chapters. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Boys Will Be Boys

Susumu stood in the middle of his large backyard with his father instructing him on how to perform a new taijutsu move of the Lotus Technique, which he was sworn to keep it secret from his mother. Lucky for him he wasn't presented with his father's horrendous green spandex and orange leg warmers (though when he was much, _much_ younger, he thought they were pretty cool and couldn't wait to get a pair of his own), those were the days…when everything was simple and still new.

It was the height of summer, and today of all days was the hottest.

A thin layer of sweat has already formed on Susumu's brow and he's done nothing but stand in the same place under the sun for twenty minutes. Wearing just his mesh shirt and very baggy cargo pants (Midori accidentally grabbed the wrong size while shopping), his hitai-ate still on his nightstand in his room, by his unmade bed. Which reminded him…he should remember to make his bed before his mother came home from work.

As he listened to his father (or better yet, pretend to be listening) he couldn't help feel a little envious of his teammates, knowing that they were taking this day to relax before training in preparations for the final part of the exam. The laziness of his jounin sensei Shikamaru has rubbed off onto him, making him feel like doing nothing more than to lie on his bed and sleep all day…after all, he did just return from the second exam yesterday. He deserved a bit of rest and relaxation, right?

"And so, my son. To learn this new move, you must blah blah blah blah blah fuse the Lotus technique with blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and remember, when I taught this to my old student Rock Lee, he mastered this technique in just three days. I have faith in you, my wonderfully handsome son! I know for certain that you'll master it before dinner!" Gai said, giving his son his trademark thumbs-up and shining grin, though Susumu was immune to it since day one.

"Now, Susumu! Let's get to work and make our eternal flames of family bond burn strongly as I teach you this sure-fire way of winning your matches!"

"Uh, tou-san, if it's okay I'd rather just not do any training today." Susumu said in earnest, earning a horrified look from his father. "I mean, I _did_ just get back yesterday from that god-forsaken forest. And kaa-san _did_ say for me to rest up today."

"My son, I've been so selfish," Gai began dramatically with watery eyes. "I've been only thinking of my pride to see my son, my first-born, be the best of the best among this years crop." Gai hugged his son, crushing the poor boy in his bear-like embrace. "Your beautiful, wonderful, kind, caring mother is right! After a week of enduring hardship within the wilderness, you, my dear son, deserve to rest up and recuperate your strength and we will start tomorrow at the crack of dawn!"

"Uh…right." Susumu said awkwardly. "Tou-san…you can let go of me now."

* * *

Tamaki was sitting at a table, sipping tea and eating a large plate of sweet, red bean buns, they're not his favorite mind you, but he liked them all the same. Just as he was about to bite into another bun, several girl walked up to him all giggling and such.

Looking up, Tamaki visibly blushed at how cute the girls were.

"Um…is Susumu-kun here?" one asked with a blush and a shy smile.

_Of course…_ Tamaki thought bitterly. "No, haven't seen him all day." he answered.

"If he's not here, then whose tea is that?" asked a blonde girl, pointing to the extra cup of warm tea across from Tamaki.

"He was here, but he left just before you girls showed up." Tamaki said.

"Oh…I thought for sure he'd be with you. Darn, what a waste of time." another girl said.

"I told you he wasn't here!" pouted another as they all began to scurry away.

Tamaki sighed as he set his bun down and rested his elbows on the table. "You can come out now."

Susumu's head carefully peaked over the table, seeing that the coast was clear. Seeing the relieved look in his eyes, Tamaki watched with dispassion as his best friend sat back in his seat across from him.

"I swear I can't go anywhere without those crazy girls hounding me." Susumu said, running his fingers through his gravity defying hair.

"Y'know, one of these days I'm just gonna get fed up with all of this and tell them where you're hiding." Tamaki said.

Susumu smirked as he reached over to the plate of sweet buns, picking up a plump one. "I'm looking forward to the day when you finally break from always having to be compared to me."

"What?" Tamaki snapped.

"My kaa-san, she said that your greatest friends are those who stand in your shadow until they become fed up to the point they finally grow a back bone, and scream out to be heard. Of course, I've never really took it seriously." Susumu said calmly.

"Is that so…?" Tamaki simmered, his fists clenched in his lap.

"You want to prove that theory wrong?" Susumu challenged.

Tamaki suddenly shot up from his seat, knocking the chair over. "Y'know, Susumu, the world doesn't always revolve around you! You're always too focused on the mission, on winning! You only stop when one of us is hurt and push us to move forward! But you only do that because we'd just slow you down!"

Susumu's eyes were wide with shock, never foreseeing this turn of event. But he smoothly recovered as he stood up too, slapping his palms on the table surface. "For your information, I'm not the one who usually gets into trouble!"

"At least I don't hide from the girls who ogled at you during our academy years! I'm no chicken to talk to them or indulge in their company!"

"Why would I want to do something so vulgar and degrading when I should focus on the exams?!"

"_There!_ Right there! You've proven my point!"

"UHG!"

At that, the boys both turned away from each other and stormed down opposite ways of the street.

* * *

In spite of everything that was exchanged between him and Tamaki, Susumu began to vigorously train under his father's tutelage. His eye on the prize: to be promoted to chuunin level.

Gai noticed a change in his talented son's attitude when he was approached and asked to begin his month long training. And as ecstatic as he is to hear such a request coming from her eldest son, he knew something had happened. But he would be patient and wait until his son would open up to him and then they'd share a wonderful father-son moment like he always dreamed of ever since he found out his beloved wife Midori and him were having a boy.

Screw it. He had to know!

"Susumu, what's been on your mind lately?" he asked, watching his son wipe the sweat off from his brow from where he sat on the lush green grass of their yard.

"Tou-san, you and Kakashi oji-san have had moments where you can't stand each other, right?" Susumu asked.

A knowing smile graced his features as he sat down beside his son and wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders to give his fatherly advice.

"Susumu, what you may not know is that Kakashi and I have been eternal rivals since the very day we've met. And though we don't get along very well, we work well together on missions and such." Gai said.

"So will Tamaki and I become rivals from now on?" Susumu asked with dismay.

"No, you two will be two peas in a pod again just as soon as one of you steps up and admits his faults." Midori said, catching both Gai's and Susumu's attention as they looked over their shoulders. Midori had brought out two glasses of cool, refreshing iced tea for her two hard working men.

"Ah, Midori-chan, not only do you bring great motherly insight, you also bring refreshment." Gai said dreamily, adoring his beautiful wife as she handed them the cold drinks.

"Kaa-san, are you sure Tamaki and I won't become bitter rivals?" Susumu asked before taking a long, deep drink.

Midori crouched down behind her son and husband with a sincere look that all mothers give their children. "Susumu, have I ever been wrong?" she asked in a dull, void tone that she always spoke with.

"No." Susumu answered, knowing that his mother has yet to be wrong about anything. "Arigato, kaa-san."

"Just remember, if Tamaki refuses to talk with you, kick him when he's down and then talk out your problems after you have him pinned. That always worked for me when your tou-san and Kakashi oji-san refused to get along." Midori said before standing up to return into the air conditioned house.

Susumu sweat-dropped, never having known that bit of information. And though he knew his mother is known as the greatest espionage in Konoha, he just had to know one thing: "Tou-san, what made you decide kaa-san was the one for you?"

"Ah yes…that was the day I first laid eyes on your beautiful mother…" Gai said, suddenly lost in thought.

"She kicked your butt, didn't she?" Susumu asked bluntly, making Gai choke on an ice chip that eventually melted to a smaller piece and slid down his throat easily, leaving a cold chill run down his spine.

"Well—more or less—but the point is, I've been captivated by the silent flames that have been waiting to be let loose to shout to the world!" Gai said, while he added quickly under his breath, "Back then she was a real wildcat."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

* * *

The stadium was filled with spectators of Konoha citizens and Feudal Lords as guests to the watch the fights and bet on the hopeful contestants. More jounins had turned out to watch the fights because of the low demand of mission requests, making it a rather large, demanding crowd that has high expectations from the next generation. The pressure was on.

"What a turn-out." Eiji said, looking up at the full stands. "It's a little intimidating."

"Says the guy who just stands here and grins while his teammates are duking it out down in the arena." said Utada Hikari, a sensible kunoichi whose jounin sensei was Aburame Shino.

Eiji leaned back against the railings and looked over his right shoulder down at his teammates' fight. "Yeah, but those two need to blow off some steam." he said, turning his head forward again with his mysterious smile. "They've been hostile towards each other ever since the second exam was over."

"I'll never understand what goes through that head of yours, Eiji-kun." Hikari said.

"Heh, heh! You're not the first." Eiji chuckled.

* * *

Susumu blocked a punch from Tamaki and countered with a high kick that Tamaki vaulted over. And neither boys' were letting on that they were already sorry as they had already vented out on each other that anything between them was "water under the bridge" as the saying went.

They were just too egotistical to admit it.

Their speed was slowing down as exhaustion began to seep in through every crevice of their body. Which brought up a conflict because neither one was going to lose to the other.

* * *

"They're both showing resistance on giving in." Kakashi noted.

"My son's everlasting flames of youth will never die down!" Gai said with enthusiasm before a hand smacked him on the back of his head. "Midori-chan, what was that for?"

"Can't you show a little concern?" she asked, "My poor Susumu…he's been fighting Tamaki for a long time now and he's obviously tired."

"Don't worry, kaa-san, nii-san will win!" Enishi said.

"He'll be bed ridden for days from sore muscles." Midori continued as Gai hugged his wife, sharing his concern with her.

"Now, now, Midori-chan, Susumu-kun is a capable kid." Kakashi reassured.

* * *

At last! Susumu finally managed to pin Tamaki down into the dirt! Now was his chance to straighten everything out between him and his teammate!

* * *

"That looks familiar." Kakashi said, as he and Gai looked at each other and then at Midori before shivering at the memory of that terrifying day (long…long…_long_ ago).

* * *

"All right, Tamaki. Now that you can't move, you have no choice but to listen to me." Susumu said.

"And what makes you think I'll listen?" Tamaki hissed.

"Because I'm sitting on your back."

Pause.

"Listen, Tamaki, I'm only gonna say this once. I'm sorry."

Tamaki snorted. "You jerk, what makes you think apologizing is gonna erase everything?"

"It won't, but I just want to get closure."

"Closure for what? If you haven't noticed you won—_again!_ I get it, you're the best fighter, the smartest in our class, Mr. Valedictorian. I don't even know why you ever hung out with me in the first place."

"Because you're my best friend."

Tamaki's eyes widened as Susumu got off of his back as Genma announced: "The winner of the match, Maito Susumu!"

Tamaki rolled onto his back and sat up, looking up when he saw a hand held out to him from Susumu.

"I don't care if we argue or end up as bitter rivals, just as long as we don't forget each other, I'll be satisfied." Susumu said. "So what do you say?"

Tamaki scuffed. "You'll never change." He then grinned and took Susumu's waiting hand and accepted the help of getting up. "That's why we're best buds."

Susumu smirked back as he and his best friend tapped fists.

"Hey you two, hurry up and clear the area so we can start the next fight." Genma said.

* * *

Midori just shook her head and thought, _Boys will be boys._


	10. Chapter 10

To Know Who You Are

Team Shikamaru. Before this team was formed, Shikamaru had gone through many student files, reading up on each genin graduate and carefully deciding which three genins he'd choose.

After taking a moment of consideration, he had chosen three genins to take under his wing.

Name: Harada Eiji

Age: 12

Gender: male

Height: 5'1 ½"

Weight: 91 Lb

Blood Type: AB negative

Class Rank: 14

Date of Birth: 03/19/94

Hair: light brown

Eyes: amber

During observation of the graduate group, Shikamaru had noted that Eiji was a rather peculiar boy. He always had a smile on his face and a thoughtful, unreadable visage. And the fact that the boy's family history was a complete mystery (having coming from a family who immigrated to Konoha some decades ago) only seemed troublesome in Shikamaru's opinion. But his background wasn't really important, and it was too troublesome and unnecessary to dig into someone's past.

Name: Fuji Tamaki

Age: 12

Gender: male

Height: 5'3"

Weight: 94 Lb

Blood Type: O positive

Class Rank: 23

Date of Birth: 05/28/94

Hair: brown/blonde

Eyes: blue

Shikamaru knew the Fuji family well enough, having to have worked with Tamaki's eldest brother, Momoshiro (a fellow war tactician and formidable shogi player whom he meets every Sunday afternoon). And through Momoshiro, he met Tamaki, the rambunctious little brother who had exceptional talent for genjutsu and the (strange) talent for burping the alphabet (reminding Shikamaru of his old teammate Chouji who was on his honeymoon with his bride Ino).

When Shikamaru was reading through the profiles of every genin, Momoshiro had approached him and practically begged him to take Tamaki as a student.

"He needs to learn patience and when to take things slow, and you're an expert with taking your time." he had said, somewhat flattering Shikamaru. Almost.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru had sighed, "Fine."

Name: Maito Susumu

Age: 12

Gender: male

Height: 4'11 ¾"

Weight: 88 Lb

Blood Type: O positive

Class Rank: 1

Date of Birth: 09/06/94

Hair: black

Eyes: black

It took Shikamaru several look-overs to even consider taking Susumu, son of Konoha's Green Beast: Maito Gai, as a student. Especially with all the trouble he and the Rookie Nine, along with Team Gai had gone through when he was a baby. And in truth, he had no special ties to the Maito boy or his family (beside the fact that every time he played Go or Shogi against Midori, he always ended up losing no matter what).

And because of Susumu's father, the boy was unbeatable in taijutsu and had the perfect replication of his mother's poker face.

Shikamaru would have ignored Susumu's impressive file of good grades and teacher's comments and moved on to find a third member for his genin team (and allow Neji, Lee, or Tenten to take him as a student instead) if it just weren't for the fact that Hyuuga Neji himself had asked, or to be more precise, ordered him to take Susumu as his third student.

"It'll be worth it, trust me." Neji had said.

"And here I thought you of all people would be more than glad to take the kid." Shikamaru said.

"I would, but as Anbu captain, I'll be too busy with missions to mentor a team of genins."

Shikamaru sighed heavily, scratching the back of his head. "The kid was troublesome before he could walk…Fine, I'll take him."

* * *

Meeting his three new students for the first time, he noticed right away that the boys were already close friends even before they were assembled into a team. At least he won't have to worry about any personal conflicts between his students.

Every little mission they were assigned went smoothly with the occasional foul-up due to lack of teamwork as Susumu and Tamaki would bump heads and start up a pointless argument with Eiji being neutral about everything.

Yep, Shikamaru knew right off the bat that the boys were the perfect example of being tight friends. He just wished his job wasn't so troublesome.

* * *

During the months after becoming a team, Shikamaru saw that his teachings and mannerisms were starting to rub off onto his students. Tamaki had slowed down and became more patient with everything, Susumu's lack of interest towards many things made him act less indifferent, and Eiji…well, the boy was still an enigma with the unexplainable smile.

Oh well, not everyone can change on the outside.

* * *

After a year of D and C-ranked missions (with only one B-ranked), Shikamaru thought it was time for his students to reach the next level as a ninja. He recommended them to take part in the Chuunin Exams, knowing their teamwork had improved and their skills have sharpened.

It was now time to put their skills to the test.

Of course, his confidence in his student's teamwork had backfired a bit after the second half of the exam was over. Hearing from Eiji that Tamaki and Susumu had a row and were no longer talking to each other. But Shikamaru just yawned and laid back down on the grass, staring up at the wispy clouds.

"That's their problem." Shikamaru had said. "Maybe it's a good thing, after all, their first match is against each other. They need some real motivation to get them going."

"You're probably right, sensei. They're just hot-headed." Eiji agreed.

* * *

Watching the fights with the other jounin senseis, Shikamaru wondered, yet hardly cared, why two of his students were so angry about to make them go at each other's throats?

And looking to the box where the genin participants of the exams were held, watching the fights at a closer range, Shikamaru noticed that Eiji wasn't even watching. In fact, the boy was leaning back against the railing while the others watched with interest.

_That kid…what does he know that I don't?_ Shikamaru wondered, _Oh well, it's none of my business anyways.

* * *

_

Of course, unknown to Shikamaru, Eiji had been the one to spur his two teammates into becoming bitter towards each other because he knew what irked them. And with a few words to his teammates separately, he had caused the sparks to the flames and watched as it grew, and waited for it to die out.

It was a method he came up with to get his friends to get over themselves and finally see eye-to-eye. He had no need to watch it unfold, because he knew the minds of his two best friends very well, while he, remained as secretive as ever.

It was just a way for them to know who they really are.

* * *

AN: I've been rather vague about Susumu's teammates so I decided to write this chapter to shed some light on who they are. And though you know Susumu well enough, and a little more about Tamaki, I've left Eiji to be enigmatic so that his character remains interesting and brings in a dynamic element to Team Shikamaru.

Sorry if this chapter isn't very long, but I just wanted to put a little more depth into the characters. Thanks to everyone, I've been able to continue on with this story. So if you guys want more keep giving me ideas for future chapters, make them as outrageous as you want, or even, dare I write, intimate as you want. I'll take any ideas or suggestions because I want you readers to be happy and satisfied!

I'll take your ideas no matter what rating it could be! From innocent and harmless, to funny and outrageous, to even sultry with adulterated moments! I could care less as long as that's what you guys want! So keep the ideas flowing!

And...

Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

Forget-Me-Not

Sixteen-year-old Maito Susumu sat on the park bench, babysitting—no—more like returning a favor by taking care of his senpai's kid (AN: Hyuuga Neji and Haruno Sakura got married because I like this pairing). Of course, it wasn't all bad as he sat on the bench while little Yasu played with the other children, he was able to catch up on some unfinished reports of his last mission.

Plus, it was a fairly nice autumn day. It wasn't cold, but cold enough for a sweater to be enough to stay warm. Autumn was his favorite season, because he enjoyed the changing colors of the trees, but he disliked the fact that winter came quickly. And with winter came the snow.

Enishi and Kisa both loved the snow, mainly because they'd drag him out of the warm comfortable house to gang up on him and have a snowball fight. Of course he'd find some kind of excuse to end the game to return to the warm couch and burry himself under the thick quilts, but the twins would beg him to play with them a little longer.

And though he hated the cold, and disliked the snow, he still went out into the backyard with his siblings, just to play with them so that he could make them smile, because he knew those days are now counted.

"Senpai," Susumu looked up from his thoughts just in time to get a face-full of autumn leaves. A fit of laughter followed suit as Susumu smiled softly at the dark pink-haired Hyuuga boy while brushing the dry leaves off of him. "Senpai, come play with us!"

Yasu grabbed the older boy's hand and impatiently tugged at it, leading towards the other children who were gathering all the leaves into a giant pile.

"Yay! Susumu-senpai's gonna play with us!" cheered the children.

Susumu faintly grinned as he picked up Yasu and playfully tossed him into the pile of leaves, thus creating a game of pile-on-Susumu-and-bury-him-in-leaves.

After spending the entire afternoon playing in the park, Susumu walked each kid home and Yasu was the last kid left to take home. And it sucked to know that they have to walk all the way to the Hyuuga compound, which was two miles from where they were now.

"Senpai," Yasu said, as he and Susumu walked down a shortcut through the park, holding the older boys hand (Yasu's only four-years-old). "When my baby sister comes, do you think I'll be a good big brother like you?"

Susumu smiled down at the pearly-eyed boy, being strongly reminded of the days when he worried about being a good big brother himself. "Hai, Yasu-kun, you'll make a very good big brother."

"That's good…" Yasu said, yawning widely. Knowing that look, Susumu stopped and knelt down on one knee, his back to the tired little boy.

"Climb on, Yasu-kun. I'll carry you home." without arguing, Yasu nodded his head and climbed onto Susumu's back. Standing up, Susumu readjusted Yasu's weight on his back and took flight to the roofs and ran to the Hyuuga compound at an easy, smooth pace.

By the time Susumu walked up to the Hyuuga compound, it had already become dark and the street lights had flickered on, and Yasu's mother, Hyuuga Sakura, with her swelling belly, was waiting outside the compound gates.

"If Yasu-chan didn't like you so much I'd give you a peace of my mind for keeping my baby out so late on a school night!" Sakura scolded, taking Yasu off of Susumu's back and gently cradling him against her.

"Sorry, Sakura-san, for making you worry. Sayonara." Susumu said, bowing to Sakura to return home.

"G'night, senpai." Susumu heard Yasu's sleepy voice as he took to the roofs again.

* * *

"Nii-san!" greeted Kisa as her older brother didn't bother to open the fence gate and just jump over the three foot barrier.

"Where's Enishi?" Susumu asked, walking up to the front door and stepping inside the warm house with his sister.

"Enishi left on a mission with his team today. They went to the Hidden Waterfall village." Kisa said, just as their mother came out from the living room to greet her son home.

"Sakura-san called, she said you had taken the children home and she just wanted to thank you." Midori said, "You look tired, go upstairs and go to bed, I hear you have your first solo mission tomorrow."

"Hai, kaa-san, I will." Susumu said.

That night, Susumu stayed awake, lying on his back in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling of his room. Reminiscing about the past, when he was younger and the world held much wonder to him.

The days he spent with his father as a boy was mainly learning taijutsu, honing his stamina and endurance. Listening to his father preach about how to live every waking moment to the fullest, and not to mention the occasional bouts between his large-eye-browed father and his 'Uncle' Kakashi. And also how his mother would always come in at the last minute to break the two apart with just a few simple words.

He often asked the other jounins whom he addressed as oba-san or oji-san or senpai, about what his parents were like before they got together. And often he'd hear that his father was considered the best taijutsu master in all of Konoha, and his mother was the greatest spy kunoichi of their time.

When he asked his parents individually, right out of the blue, about what made them choose each other out of everyone else? His father passionately claimed that it was love at first sight and that the red string of fate tied them together immediately. His mother on the other hand took awhile to answer.

"_Saying it was fate would be what your father would obviously say. Me, I'd like to think of it as something that we worked on over time. And during that time, I grew to love him, but don't tell him I said that or else we'll never hear the end of it."_

Remembering the anxiety he had after learning he was going to be a big brother reeked havoc to his self esteem. It was just a good thing to have such a good friend like Tamaki who gave him advice on how to handle with the stress, but in the end, he learned that it wasn't such a big deal.

The twins turned out to be a handful at first, but after awhile, he saw a definite pattern to their needs and soon breezed through it. And watching them getting older each year brought up the next anxiety: the need of a big brother was coming to an end.

But he learned to coup with it after seeing that no matter how old or how far apart they'd become, he will always be their big brother. Plus, he had his friends backing him up, so he knew he'd never be forgotten by anyone.

Of course, his teammates were a different story. Tamaki and Eiji, both his best friends, and the backbone to his many successes. Tamaki was his longest friend and Eiji was just a new addition to complete the ring. Of course, he and Tamaki would constantly argue while Eiji stayed out of it, quietly laughing to himself at the free entertainment.

Even now they were the closest of friends, and with the others who graduated with them and become the next rookies, a certain bond was made between the nine of them. Of course, Susumu stayed clear from the girls whom would cling onto him like a life-line.

And to this day it was still annoying to have to duck away from the crazed girls. Though a good majority of them had moved on, much to his relief, but there were still quite a few left to deal with.

"_Man, the only way for those girls to stop houndin' you is if you found yourself a girlfriend!"_ That's what Tamaki had said to him.

And he did…

But she was a Mist-nin, thus she lived very far away. But they kept in contact by writing each other letters.

Upon the thought of his pen-pal, Susumu closed his eyes and slept in 'til dawn.

* * *

The morning when Susumu was preparing to leave, a pack ready by the door and his mission scroll tucked safely within the fold of his black spy uniform, he was more than ready to leave. His mother and sister standing in the entry way.

His father and brother away on different missions.

"Ja! I'll be leaving now." Susumu said, picking up his gear and heading out the door.

"Remember everything I've taught you about gathering vital information without getting caught." Midori said.

"Hai, I will." Susumu said.

"Nii-san, don't forget to come back without a birthday present." Kisa said.

Crap! He completely forgot that Kisa's and Enishi's birthday was next week. Putting on a smile, Susumu reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a forget-me-not flower that was given to him by one of the children he took home yesterday and handed it to Kisa.

"When have I let you down, Kisa-chan?" Susumu said, before turning and left.

"You jerk! You did forget, didn't you?!" he heard his sister shout, but he pretended not to hear as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

AN: Not one of my best chapters. I was really reluctant to post this one up because it had little to do with any of the main Naruto characters. It just mainly revolved around Susumu. Sorry, but I just ran out of ideas because aparently you guys are just too fixated on the chuunin exam ideas and I only meant for that to be one chapter.

So send me more ideas and I'll write it into a story and post it up next time.

Please Review if you want me to continue.


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